Raphael in three drawings around 1499 (and a new source for the Massacre of the Innocents) (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Poetry of Drawing: Pre-Raphaelite Designs, Studies Watercolours Pre-Raphaelite Drawing
Journal of Victorian Culture, 2012
and design, in all their variety, at the forefront of the development of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and their followers. The magnificent display includes drawings in pencil, chalk, pen and ink and watercolours alongside etchings, and includes a wide range of objects; in addition to works on paper there are examples of stained glass, manuscripts and applied art. Curated by Colin Cruise and organized by Victoria Osborne at BMAG, the exhibition travelled to Sydney later in the year and is accompanied by an excellent and beautifully illustrated book, Pre-Raphaelite Drawing. In the latter, Cruise makes the vital point that drawing has usually only been examined in terms of its technical aspects, arguing that 'the materials and techniques have been given too great an importance because the drawing is regarded as in some way unfinished or too unstable for more considered discussion' (pp. 13-14); as the exhibition makes clear, the unfinished drawing offers much more. While the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and, perhaps most notoriously, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, were often criticized for their poor draughtsmanship, Cruise argues for 'the central importance of drawing in the history of Pre-Raphaelitism, both in the foundation of the Brotherhood and in the development of its members' art' (p. 12). The importance of Rossetti as a draughtsman is emphasized throughout. Working in media other than oil through most of his career, 'he neither adopted the academic convention for the representation of the human figure nor graduated immediately into painting as his central practice' (p. 27), preferring instead to concentrate on drawing and watercolours which allowed him to partner the visual with his other passion, the written word. Millais' youthful 'experimental draughtsmanship' (p. 16) matured into virtuoso displays of delicacy, spectacularly demonstrated by Study of the Head of Elizabeth Siddal for 'Ophelia' (1852, BMAG): 'intimate and probing, yet sensitive, it acts as both an imaginary and a real portrait' (p. 58). William Holman Hunt used
Nearly two decades have passed since the publication of John Shearman’s posthumous opus magnum, Raphael in Early Modern Sources (Yale University Press, 2003). As any student of Raphael, I keep this essential resource close at hand. Over the years, I have accumulated a number of addenda and corrigenda, that I think might be helpful to others. Change log: - 22 May 2023 - Item no. 15 added, featuring a more accurate reading of Beltrame Costabili’s letter to Obizzone Remo, which concerns the cartoon of the Vice-Regina di Napoli, sent by Raphael to the Duke of Ferrara. The author’s own photograph of the letter was used for this purpose. More of the damaged text would become legible if a high-resolution scan of the letter could be procured. Subsequent items are renumbered as compared to previous versions of this paper. – 23 November 2022 - Item no. 6, with two corrections of Shearman’s transcription from the minutario of Goro Gheri. Also added images to item 7 and 21 – 26 September 2022 - New item 20: From the Archivio di Stato di Modena, a letter mentioning Raphael that is not included in Shearman’s compendium. Duke Alfonso d’Este of Ferrara to Alfonso Paolucci, his ambassador in Rome, 5 June 1519, urging the ambassador to keep urging Raphael to finish the painting the Duke had commisioned. Transcription provisional: suggestions for improvements appreciated. — 23 September 2022 - New item 19: From the Archivio di Stato di Modena, a letter mentioning Raphael that is not included in Shearman’s compendium. Duke Alfonso d’Este of Ferrara to Alfonso Paolucci, his ambassador in Rome, 13 May 1519, urging the ambassador to try to visit Raphael’s studio to check up on the progress of the painting the Duke had commissioned. This explains Paolucci’s reply to the Duke of 23 May 1519, which Shearman does cite. — 20 July 2022 - New item 3 - From the Archivio di Stato di Mantova, a letter of Agostino Gonzaga from 18 August 1516 that Shearman was unable to locate. As a result, the addressee can be confirmed as Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, and the date of the event (Leo X giving an audience in the new loggia) can now be corrected to 17 August 1516