Patronage of Raphael


When Raphael settled in Florence about 1504, the city was ruled by a handful of rich and powerful nobles, who sought to consolidate their control of the city with ambitious projects for paintings and sculptures. Leading artists were granted important public and private commissions, and their works were considered contributions to the enhanced prestige of Florence.

Two popes in particular, Julius II (1503 *13) and Leo X (1513 * 21), shared a desire to endow the city with magnificent buildings and works of art. This was vital if the papacy was to recover its position as the principal centre of religious and political power. Bramante, Michelangelo and Raphael were entrusted by Julius II with key works in this process of restoration.

The decoration of the famous Vatican Stanze, or papal apartments, had its origins in the refusal of Julius II to use the rooms occupied by his predecessor Alexander VI, with their frescoes by Pintoricchio, as his official residence. The assertion of Papal rights and of Julius's own rights and ideals which was made in the Stanza della Segnatura was made even more forcefully in the programme of paintings which Julius gave to Raphael for the second room, when he soon recognized that Raphael was remarkably adept at transforming the papal inspiration into reality, the room where official letters were signed. On the ceiling Raphael painted the personifications of Theology, Philosophy, Jurisprudence and Poetry set within circular enclosures above the lunettes of the walls. The frescoes in the Stanza d'’Eliodoro, which were painted in the years from 1511 to 1514, reflect all the conflict, instability and triumph of Julius's career.

Julius made use of Raphael's skill to demonstrate that he owed his authority as pope to God and that God would support him against his enemies, who were the enemies of the True Church. Each fresco records a dramatic and supernatural event, glorifying both the history of the Church and by implication Julius's role in that history.

For example, the story of The Expulsion of Heliodorus takes place in Old Testament times and shows God intervening on the side of the Jewish High Priest; this enable Julius to trace the source of his authority back before the coming of Christ; the Pope, like the High Priest, was God's chosen representative on earth, and God would answer his prayers for support. Julius himself also appears in the painting, being borne on a litter.

The Expulsion of Heliodorus celebrates Julius's ecclesiastical victory over the Council of Pisa and The Repulse of Attila refers to his seemingly miraculous military victory over the French. But the figure who is wearing the papal crown and appears in the role of Pope Leo the Great is not Julius but his successor, Leo X who took the opportunity of including himself in the fresco after Julius died while it was being painted.


As well as including many portraits of his tow papal patrons in his frescoes, Raphael painted independent portraits of both Julius II (1512) and Leo X.


After the death of Julius II in 1513, Leo X, a man of great learning, assumed the papacy. Raphael was quickly able to interpret the new direction in the visual arts. Little more than thirty years old, he became a leading figure of cultural life in Rome, and was welcomed into the company of scholars and humanists alike. He received an enormous number of appointments and commissions, not only in painting but also in the fields of architecture and archeology. As was the case with his predecessor, the most eloquent image of Leo X is his portrait by Raphael.

For the fresco scheme of the third room, Pope Leo X chose to continue the theme of divine intervention on behalf of the Church. All the frescoes here relate to Leo X as Pope because they show miraculous events that happened during the reign of two previous Popes called Leo. In The Fire in the Borgo the one fresco that Raphael himself completed, Pope Leo IV is shown giving the blessing that extinguished a raging fire in the Borgo, a suburb of Rome.

Raphael was also commissioned to paint two other rooms in the Vatican. In August 1514 Raphael was placed in charge of the extensions to St. Peter's Basilica. At the end of the same year he was also asked to make cartoons for ten tapestries to be hung in the Sistine Chapel, which was being used for services while building work was going on in St. Peters. Apart from the Popes, Raphael's main patron was the Sienese banker Agostino Chigi (1465 * 1520), who had made a fortune out of shipping and real estate and, as a Papal financier, was a prominent social figure in Rome. In a room on the ground floor of the Farnesina is Raphael's fresco The Triumph of Galatea painted in 1511.


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