Description
The Transfiguration by Raphael is the final work of the great Renaissance artist Raphael, commissioned by Cardinal Giulio de Medici of the Medici banking dynasty.
Originally, the artwork was conceived as an altarpiece to be hung as the central altarpiece of the Cathedral of Narbonne in France, and now hangs in the Vatican Pinacoteca in Vatican City.
After Raphael's death, the painting was never sent to France, and the Cardinal instead hung it in the high altar of the church of Blessed Amadeus of San Pietro in Montorio, Rome, in 1523.
However, in 1797, the painting was taken by French troops as part of Napoleon's Italian campaign and subsequently hung in the Louvre.
It can be considered that the painting reflects a dichotomy at the simplest level: the redemptive power of Christ, symbolized by the purity and symmetry of the upper half of the painting; as opposed to the deficiencies of Man, symbolized in the lower half of the painting by the dark and chaotic scenes.
This artistic composition is divided into two differentiated parts. The transfiguration relates to successive stories from the Gospel of Matthew. The upper part of the painting represents Christ elevated against undulating and illuminated clouds, and on either side of him are the prophets Elijah and Moses. In the lower part of the painting, the Apostles are depicted, unsuccessfully trying to free the possessed child from demons. The upper part shows the transfigured Christ, who seems to be performing a miracle, healing the child and freeing him from evil.
At the most obvious level, the painting can be interpreted as the division between the defects of men, represented in the lower half, and the redemptive power of Christ, in the upper half of the painting. There are two kneeling figures to the left of Christ who are the martyrs, Saint Agapitus and Saint Felicissimus, who were deacons captured during the persecutions of Emperor Valerian.
The dimensions of The Transfiguration are 159 inches by 109 inches. Raphael preferred to paint on canvas, but this painting was made with paintings in oil on wood as the chosen mediums. Raphael actually showed advanced indications of mannerism and techniques from the Baroque period in this painting.
The stylized and contorted poses of the lower half figures indicate mannerism. The dramatic tension within these figures, and the liberal use of light and dark, or chiaroscuro contrasts, represent the Baroque period of exaggerated movement to produce drama, tension, exuberance, or illumination. Transfiguration was ahead of its time, just as Raphael's death came too soon.
It would be Raphael's last painting, which he would work on until his death in April 1520.
The cleaning of the painting from 1972 to 1976 showed that only some of the lower left figures were completed by assistants, while most of the painting was by Raphael himself.
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