Painting Sistine Madonna - magic painting by Raphael Santi. Nine symbols encrypted in the Sistine Madonna Sistine Madonna by Raphael Santi high resolution

When someone talks about Raphael's Madonna, the imagination immediately draws a gentle, spiritualized image that seems to glow from within. In my whole life Raphael Santi wrote several dozen paintings with images of the Virgin Mary. And they are all varied and good in their own way. This review presents 5 famous "Madonnas" by the great Renaissance painter.

Madonna Conestabile

"Madonna Conestabile" - one of the earliest paintings by Raphael, created by him at the age of 20. It was written in Perugia before moving to Florence. The young artist has not yet been influenced by the technique of performance of such masters as Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo Buonarroti, therefore the transferred image of the Virgin Mary with a baby in her arms is still too simple.

"Madonna Conestabile" is the only painting by Raphael that is kept on the territory of Russia, in the Hermitage. In 1870, it was acquired by Emperor Alexander II as a gift for his wife Maria Feodorovna. The painting was in the Italian city of Perugia in the possession of Count Conestabil della Staffa (hence the name of the painting). He was in great need of money and, despite reproaches from the public for depriving them of their national treasure, he sold the "Madonna Conestabila" for 100 thousand rubles.

Raphael's painting could well have left Russia during the period of the active sale of the Hermitage heritage by the Bolsheviks, but for some reason nobody bought the tiny canvas measuring 17.5x18 cm, and it remained in the museum's exposition.

Madonna Granduca

When Raphael arrived in Florence in 1504, he became acquainted with the works of Leonardo da Vinci and mastered the technique of sfumato (smooth transition from light to shadow), which was used by the great master. It was then that Madonna Granduca appeared.

Looking at the canvas, it seems that it literally glows. Madonna's eyes are lowered, which means humility. Her clothes are in traditional colors. Red means the sacrificial blood of Christ, and the blue cloak is the integrity of the Queen of Heaven.

It is curious that the original background of the painting was a landscape and a window with a balustrade, but now Madonna is depicted on a black background. Until recently, it was believed that Raphael himself decided to paint over the landscape, but recent studies have shown that black paint was applied no earlier than a hundred years after the painting was painted.

Madonna Alba

Raphael wrote "Madonna Alba" while in Rome in 1511. He was invited there by Pope Julius II to paint the halls of the Vatican. Then Michelangelo worked there on the famous Sistine Chapel.

Raphael was lucky to see the master's frescoes. Influenced by the works of Michelangelo, the artist wrote "Madonna Alba". In comparison with earlier canvases, here the Madonna is no longer fragile and meek, but a completely self-confident woman, depicted in a relaxed pose.

Until 1931 "Madonna Alba" was in the collection of the Hermitage, until it was sold by the Bolsheviks to an American magnate.

Madonna in the chair

Madonna in the Chair differs from Raphael's previous works. In this picture, the Virgin Mary is more "earthly". If all the previous images were born in the artist's head, then for this Madonna a real girl posed for him. The attire of the Virgin Mary is also unusual. The traditional red dress and blue cloak replaced the clothes of a simple city woman.

Sistine Madonna

The Sistine Madonna is considered the pinnacle of Renaissance fine art. She differs from other "Madonnas" by Raphael not only in composition, but also in her pose and gaze. If the previous paintings were painted on wood, then this one is done on canvas.

The "Sistine Madonna" hung for a long time in one of the temples of the Italian city of Piancenza, until it was bought by August III, the elector of Saxony. There is a legend that he ordered to move his throne so that the picture could be better seen.

Today the canvas is in the Gallery of Old Masters in Dresden. Of course, Raphael's skill is undeniable, but even in the "Sistine Madonna"

Raphael "Sistine Madonna":
History of the painting

Raphael was a happy artist Absorbed by the abundance of honorable and grandiose orders, glorified by his admirers, he worked quickly and joyfully. Creativity has never been a bitter torment for him.

Contemporary humanists believed that in order to be understandable to the people, the poet must express himself in the language "vulgare". For the same purposes, some artists of the Renaissance turned to old folk legends and colored them with the colors of their imagination.
In Raphael's painting, the appearance of the Madonna to the deceased Pope Julius II turned into a phenomenon to her people, which was told about in ancient legends. In such legends, the people's aspirations for justice, the desire and need of ordinary people to present the heavenly queen and patroness in close proximity were expressed. However, Raphael did not confine himself to retelling the medieval legend.

In the history of the creation of the most famous work of Raphael, much is still shrouded in mystery. Some art historians believe that his Maria has almost lost the halo of holiness - a crown does not flicker on her head, no brocade fabrics are held behind her. On the contrary, she is wearing a blanket and a cloak of smooth fabric, her legs are bare, and, in essence, this is a simple woman. It was not without reason that many were struck by the fact that she was holding a baby in the way that peasant women usually hold them. But this barefooted woman is admired by the wind, like the queen - the mistress of heaven. Pope Sixtus took off the tiara in front of her and placed it carefully in the corner. The earthly ruler, like magicians in front of a Christmas manger, bared his forehead, and an old man, almost trembling with excitement, appears before the viewer.

Other researchers believe that in this solemn Madonna, on the contrary, there is nothing earthly - this is a deity clothed in a human form Her face still resembles the familiar features of Fornarina, but transformed features Surrounded by a host of angels, standing on the clouds, the Madonna presents her divine Son to the world.

Different generations, different people saw each of his own in the "Sistine Madonna". Some saw in it only a religious content, others - a moral philosophy hidden in it, others appreciated artistic perfection in it. But these three aspects are inseparable.

Raphael created the Sistine Madonna around 1516. By this time, he had already written many paintings depicting the Mother of God. When he was very young, Raphael became famous as an amazing master and incomparable poet of the image of the Madonna. The St. Petersburg Hermitage houses the Madonna of Conestabil, which was created by a seventeen-year-old artist. In the Pitti Gallery there is his "Madonna in the Chair", in the Prado Museum - "Madonna with Fish", in the Vatican Pinacoteca - "Madonna del Foligno", other Madonnas have become treasures of other museums. But when the time came to write his main work, Raphael left his students with numerous works in the Vatican Palace in order to write with his own hand the altarpiece for the monastery church of St. Sixtus in distant Piacenza.

The altar images were then written on the board, but Raphael painted this Madonna on canvas. At first, the "Sistine Madonna" was in the semicircular choir of the monastery church (now defunct), and the towering figure of the Mother of God seemed to float in the air from afar. In 1754, the painting was acquired by King August III of Saxony and brought to his Dresden residence. The court of the Saxon electors paid 20,000 zechins for it - a considerable sum for those times. And now, when visitors to the famous Gallery come closer to the picture, they are more enveloped in a new impression. The Mother of God is no longer soaring in the air, but as if walking towards you

The parapet at the bottom of the picture is the only barrier that separates the earthly world from the heavenly world. As in reality, the green curtain parted to the sides, and Mary with the divine son in her arms is your gaze. She walks, and it seems that now the Mother of God will step over the parapet and step on the ground, but this moment lasts forever. The Madonna remains motionless, always ready to descend and always inaccessible.

In the picture there is neither earth nor sky, there is no familiar landscape or architectural decoration in the depths. All the free space between the figures is filled with clouds, thicker and darker at the bottom, more transparent and radiant at the top. The overweight, elderly figure of Saint Sixtus, drowning in the heavy folds of the gold-woven papal vestments, froze in solemn worship. His outstretched hand to us eloquently emphasizes the main idea of ​​the picture - the appearance of the Mother of God to people.

On the other side Saint Barbara bent down, and both figures seem to support Mary, forming a vicious circle around her. Some people call these figures auxiliary, secondary, but if you remove them (at least mentally) or even slightly change their position in space, the harmony of the whole will immediately collapse. The meaning of the whole picture and the very image of Mary will change.
Reverently and tenderly, Madonna hugs her son, who is sitting in her arms, to her chest. Neither mother nor child can be imagined separately from each other, their existence is possible only in indissoluble unity. Mary - human intercessor - brings her son to meet people. Her lonely procession expresses all that sorrowful and tragic sacrifice to which the Mother of God is doomed.

The world of the "Sistine Madonna" is unusually complex, although, at first glance, nothing in the picture foreshadows trouble. And yet, the viewer is haunted by a sense of impending anxiety. A sweet-voiced choir of angels sings, filling the sky (background of the canvas) and praising Mary. The kneeling Sixtus does not take his enthusiastic gaze from the Mother of God, Saint Barbara humbly lowered her eyes. It seems that nothing threatens the peace of Mary and her son. But alarming shadows run and run along the folds of clothes and draperies. Clouds swirl under the feet of the Madonna, the very radiance that surrounds her and the Divine Infant promises a storm.

All the eyes of the actors in the picture are directed in different directions, and only Mary with the divine baby is looking at us. Raphael portrayed a wonderful vision on his canvas and accomplished the seemingly impossible. The whole picture is full of inner movement, illuminated by a quivering light, as if the canvas itself radiates a mysterious glow. This light now barely dawns, then shines, then almost sparkles. And this pre-storm condition is reflected on the face of the infant Christ, his face is full of anxiety. He seems to see the lightning of the impending thunderstorm, in his childishly harsh eyes a reflection of distant troubles is visible, for "I did not bring peace to you, but a sword ...". He clung to his mother's chest, but restlessly peers into the world. ... The Russian poet N. Ogarev spoke about Raphael:
“How he understood this child, sad and pensive, who“ foresees his great future ”.

It is said that Raphael wrote The Sistine Madonna at a time when he himself was experiencing severe grief. And therefore he put all his sorrow into the divine face of his Madonna - the most perfect embodiment of the ideal in Christianity. He created the most beautiful image of the Mother of God, combining in it the features of the highest religious ideality with the highest humanity.

The "Sistine Madonna" has been admired for a long time, and many beautiful words have been said about her. And in the last century, Russian writers and artists, like on a pilgrimage, went to Dresden - to the "Sistine Madonna". They saw in her not only a perfect work of art, but also the highest measure of human nobility.

V.A. Zhukovsky speaks of the Sistine Madonna as an embodied miracle, as a poetic revelation and admits that it was created not for the eyes, but for the soul: “This is not a picture, but a vision; the longer you look, the more vividly you are convinced that something unnatural is happening in front of you ...
And this is not a deception of the imagination: it is not deceived here either by the vividness of the colors or by the external brilliance. Here the painter's soul, without any art tricks, but with amazing ease and simplicity, conveyed to the canvas the miracle that took place in its interior ”. A.S. Pushkin knew the painting from its engraving reproduction, and it made a very strong impression on him. The poet repeatedly recalled the Raphael masterpiece, and singing the pensive eyes of the shy beauty, he likens her to the angel Raphael.

The most enthusiastic admirer of the Sistine Madonna among Russian writers was F.M. Dostoevsky. Once he was ardently indignant when, in his presence, a certain artist began to analyze the artistic merits of the picture in a professional language. Many of the heroes of the writer's novels are characterized through their relationship to Raphael's Madonna.
For example, the engraving with the image of the Madonna, which he saw, leaves a deep imprint on the spiritual development of Arkady ("The Teenager").
The governor's wife, Yulia Mikhailovna ("The Demons"), spent two hours in front of the painting, but, as a secular lady, did not understand anything about it.
Stepan Trofimovich, on the contrary, feels an urgent need to write about this masterpiece, but he was never destined to fulfill his intention.
Svidrigailov (Crime and Punishment) recalls the face of the Madonna, whom he calls the “mournful fool,” and this statement allows the reader to see the full depth of his moral decline.

The "Sistine Madonna" was also carefully studied by Russian artists.
Karl Bryullov admired: "The more you look, the more you feel the incomprehensibility of these beauties: every feature is thought out, full of expression of grace, combined with the strictest style."
A. Ivanov copied her and suffered from the consciousness of his inability to grasp her main charm.
Kramskoy in a letter to his wife admitted that only in the original he noticed a lot that is not noticeable in any of the copies. He was especially interested in the universal human meaning of Raphael's creation:
“This is something really almost impossible ...
Whether Mary was really the way she is depicted here, no one ever knew and, of course, does not know, with the exception of her contemporaries, who, however, do not tell us anything good about her. But this, at least, was created by her religious feelings and beliefs of mankind ... Raphael's Madonna is indeed a great work and truly eternal, even when mankind ceases to believe, when scientific research ... will reveal the truly historical features of both of these persons6 .. and then the painting will not lose its value, but only its role will change. "

And during the Second World War, humanity could forever lose Raphael's masterpiece. Before their collapse, the Nazis hid the paintings of the famous Dresden Gallery in damp limestone mines and were ready to blow up and destroy priceless treasures, so that they would not fall into the hands of the Russians. But by order of the Soviet command, the soldiers of the First Ukrainian Front spent two months searching for the greatest masterpieces of the Gallery.
The "Sistine Madonna" of the great Raphael was in a box, which was made of thin, but strong and well-processed slats. Thick cardboard was fixed at the bottom of the box, and inside the box was a frame upholstered with felt, on which the painting rested. But in the days of the war, the box could not serve as a reliable protection. In an instant, he could flare up, and ...
When the box was opened, a woman of marvelous, unearthly beauty with a divine baby in her arms appeared before people, with her radiant eyes wide open. And Soviet soldiers and officers, who had walked the hard roads of war for several years, took off their caps and caps in front of her ...
"One hundred great pictures" N.A. Ionin, publishing house "Veche", 2002

"The genius of pure beauty" - this is what Vasily Zhukovsky said about the "Sistine Madonna". Later, Pushkin borrowed this image and dedicated it to Anna Kern. Raphael also wrote the Madonna from a real person.
From the history of the painting
At the beginning of the 16th century, Rome waged a difficult war with France for the possession of the northern lands of Italy. In general, luck was on the side of the papal troops, and the northern Italian cities, one after another, went over to the side of the Roman pontiff. In 1512 she did this and Piacenza- a town 60 kilometers southeast of Milan.

For Pope Julius II Piacenza was more than just a new territory: here was the monastery of Saint Sixtus, the patron saint of the Rovere family, to which the pontiff belonged. To celebrate, Julius II decided to thank the monks (who were actively campaigning for joining Rome) and ordered from Raphael Santi(by that time already a recognized master) altar image, on which the Virgin Mary appears to Saint Sixtus.

Raphael liked the order: it allowed him to saturate the picture with symbols that are important for the artist. The painter was gnostic- an adherent of the late antique religious movement, based on the Old Testament, Eastern mythology and a number of early Christian teachings. The Gnostics of all magic numbers were especially revered six(exactly on the sixth day, according to their teaching, God created Jesus), and Sixtus is just translated as "sixth".

Raphael decided to play with this coincidence. Therefore, compositionally, the picture, according to the Italian art critic Matteo Fizzi, encodes a six in itself: it consists of six figures that together form a hexagon.
What are the secret symbols in the picture?

1 MADONNA. It is believed that Raphael painted the image of the holy Virgin from his beloved Fornarina (Margherita Luti). Fornarina - from Italian. La Fornarina, The Baker.
According to the Russian art historian Sergei Stam, "openness and trustfulness, ardent love and tenderness for the child, and at the same time alertness and anxiety, but at the same time a willingness to accomplish a feat (to give her son to death) froze in the eyes of the Sistine Madonna".

2 CHRIST CHILD. According to Stam, “his forehead is not childishly high, and his eyes are not childishly serious. His eyes look at the world that has opened before them intently, tensely, with bewilderment and fear. " And at the same time, in the gaze of Christ, one reads the determination to follow the will of God the Father, the determination to sacrifice oneself for the salvation of mankind.
3 Sixt II. Very little is known about the Roman pontiff. He did not stay on the holy throne for long - from 257 to 258 - and was executed under the Emperor Valerian by beheading.
Saint Sixtus was the patron saint of the Italian papal family Rovere (Italian "oak"). Therefore, acorns and oak leaves are embroidered on his golden robe.
4 HANDS OF SIXT. Raphael wrote to the Pope with his right hand pointing to the crucifixion of the throne (recall that the "Sistine Madonna" hung behind the altar and, accordingly, behind the altar cross). It is curious that the artist depicted six fingers on the pontiff's hand - another six encoded in the painting. (Actually, the apparent sixth finger (little finger) is part of the inner side of the palm.)
The high priest's left hand is pressed to his chest - as a sign of devotion to the Virgin Mary.
5 THE PAPAN TIARA removed from the head of the pontiff as a sign of respect to the Madonna. The tiara consists of three crowns, symbolizing the kingdom of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is crowned with an acorn - the heraldic symbol of the Rovere clan.
6 SAINT BARBARA was the patroness of Piacenza. This saint of the 3rd century, secretly from her pagan father, turned to faith in Jesus. The father tortured and beheaded the apostate daughter.
7 CLOUDS. Some believe that Raphael depicted the clouds in the form of singing angels. In fact, according to the teachings of the Gnostics, these are not angels, but unborn souls who are in heaven and glorify the Almighty.
8 ANGELS. The two angels at the bottom of the painting gaze impassively into the distance. Their apparent indifference is a symbol of accepting the inevitability of divine providence: Christ is destined for a cross, and he cannot change his fate.
9 OPEN CURTAIN symbolizes the open skies. Its green color indicates the mercy of God the Father, who sent his son to death in order to save people.
…………….
Work on "Madonna" was completed in 1513, until 1754 the painting was in the monastery of St. Sixtus, until the Saxon elector August III bought it for 20,000 zechins (almost 70 kilograms of gold).
Until the beginning of World War II, the "Sistine Madonna" stayed in the Dresden gallery. But in 1943, the Nazis hid the painting in an adit, where, after a long search, Soviet soldiers found it. So the creation of Raphael ended up in the USSR. In 1955, the Sistine Madonna, along with many other paintings exported from Germany, was returned to the authorities of the GDR and is now in the Dresden Gallery.

ARTIST Rafael Santi

1483 - Born in Urbino in the family of an artist. 1500 - Began his studies at the art workshop of Pietro Perugino. He signed the first contract - for the creation of the altarpiece “Coronation of St. Nicholas of Tolentino. ”1504-1508 - Lived in Florence, where he met Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Created the first Madonnas - "Madonna Granduc" and "Madonna with the Goldfinch". 1508-1514 - He worked on the paintings of the papal palace (frescoes "The School of Athens", "The Exodus of the Apostle Peter from Dungeon", etc.), painted a portrait of Pope Julius II. Received the post of scribe of papal decrees. 1512-1514 - He wrote the "Sistine Madonna" and "Madonna di Foligno". 1515 - He was appointed chief keeper of the Vatican antiquities. Wrote "Madonna in the chair". 1520 - Died in Rome

Raphael Santi's painting "The Sistine Madonna" was originally created by the great painter as an altarpiece for the Church of San Sisto (St. Sixtus) in Piacenza. The size of the painting is 270 x 201 cm, oil on canvas. The painting depicts the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, Pope Sixtus II and Saint Barbara. The painting "Sistine Madonna" is one of the most famous works of world art. In Renaissance painting, this is perhaps the deepest and most beautiful embodiment of the theme of motherhood. For Rafael Santi, it was also a kind of result and synthesis of many years of searching in the topic closest to him. Raphael wisely used the possibilities of the monumental altar composition here, the view of which opens in the distant perspective of the church interior immediately, from the moment the visitor enters the temple. From a distance, the motive of the opening curtain, behind which, like a vision, the Madonna walking on the clouds with a baby in her arms appears, should give the impression of an overwhelming force. The gestures of Saints Sixtus and Barbara, the angels' upward gaze, the general rhythm of the figures - all serve to rivet the viewer's attention to the Madonna herself.

Compared with the images of other Renaissance painters and with the previous works of Raphael, the painting "The Sistine Madonna" reveals an important new quality - an increased spiritual contact with the viewer. In the Madonnas that preceded him, the images were distinguished by a peculiar inner isolation - their gaze was never turned to anything outside the picture; they were either preoccupied with the child or self-absorbed. Only in Raphael's painting "Madonna in the Chair" do the characters look at the viewer, and there is a deep seriousness in their gaze, but to a more certain extent their experiences are not revealed by the artist. In the gaze of the Sistine Madonna, there is something that seems to allow us to look into her soul. It would be an exaggeration to speak here about the increased psychological expression of the image, about the emotional effect, but in the slightly raised eyebrows of the Madonna, in the wide-open eyes - and her gaze itself is not fixed and difficult to catch, as if she is looking not at us, but past or through us, - there is a shade of anxiety and the expression that appears in a person when his fate is suddenly revealed to him. It is like a providence of the tragic fate of her son and at the same time a willingness to sacrifice him. The drama of the mother's image is set off in its unity with the image of the infant Christ, whom the artist endowed with childlike seriousness and perspicacity. It is important, however, to note that with such a deep expression of feeling, the image of the Madonna is devoid of even a hint of exaggeration and exaltation - it retains its harmonic underlying basis, but, unlike the previous Raphael creations, it is more enriched with shades of innermost spiritual movements. And, as always with Raphael, the emotional content of his images is unusually vividly embodied in the very plasticity of his figures. The painting "The Sistine Madonna" provides a vivid example of the peculiar "polysemy" inherent in Raphael's images of the simplest movements and gestures. Thus, the Madonna herself seems to us simultaneously walking forward and standing still; her figure seems to float easily in the clouds and at the same time has the real weight of a human body. In the movement of her hands, carrying the baby, one can guess the instinctive impulse of the mother, hugging the child, and at the same time - the feeling that her son does not belong only to her, that she sacrifices him to people. The high imaginative content of such motifs distinguishes Raphael from many of his contemporaries and artists of other eras, who considered themselves his followers, who often had nothing but an external effect behind the ideal appearance of their characters.

The composition of the "Sistine Madonna" is at first glance simple. In reality, this is an apparent simplicity, for the general construction of the picture is based on unusually subtle and at the same time strictly verified ratios of volumetric, linear and spatial motives that impart greatness and beauty to the picture. Her impeccable balance, devoid of artificiality and schematism, does not in the least hinder the freedom and naturalness of the movements of the figures. The figure of Sixtus, dressed in a wide robe, for example, is heavier than the figure of Barbara and is located somewhat lower than her, but the curtain over Varvara is heavier than over Sixtus, and thus the necessary balance of masses and silhouettes is restored. Such a seemingly insignificant motive, like the papal tiara, placed in the corner of the picture on the parapet, has a great figurative and compositional significance, bringing into the picture that part of the feeling of earthly firmament, which is required to give the heavenly vision the necessary reality. The expressiveness of the melodious lines of Raphael Santi is enough evidenced by the contour of the Madonna's figure, powerfully and freely outlining her silhouette, full of beauty and movement.

How was the image of the Madonna created? Was there a real prototype for it? In this regard, a number of ancient legends are associated with the Dresden painting. Researchers find in the Madonna's facial features a resemblance to the model of one of Raphael's portraits of women - the so-called "Ladies in a Veil" ("La Donna Velata", 1516, Pitti Gallery). But in solving this issue, first of all, one should take into account the famous statement of Raphael himself from a letter to his friend Baldassara Castiglione that in creating an image of perfect female beauty, he is guided by a certain idea, which arises on the basis of many impressions from the beauties seen by the artist in the life of the artist. In other words, the selection and synthesis of observations of reality is at the heart of the creative method of the painter Raphael Santi.

The painting, lost in one of the temples of the provincial Piacenza, remained little known until the middle of the 18th century, when the Saxon Elector August III, after two years of negotiations, received permission from Benedict XIV to take it to Dresden. Prior to this, agents of Augustus tried to negotiate the purchase of the more famous works of Raphael, which were in Rome itself. A copy of the Sistine Madonna by Giuseppe Nogari remains in the San Sisto temple. A few decades later, after the publication of enthusiastic reviews by Goethe and Winckelmann, the new acquisition eclipsed Correggio's "Holy Night" collection as the main masterpiece of Dresden's collection.

Since Russian travelers began their grand tour precisely from Dresden, the "Sistine Madonna" became for them the first meeting with the heights of Italian art and that is why it received deafening fame in Russia in the 19th century, surpassing all other Raphael's Madonnas. Almost all artistically oriented Russian travelers in Europe wrote about it - N.M. Karamzin, V.A. Zhukovsky ("heavenly maiden passing by"), V. Küchelbecker ("divine creation"), A.A. Bestuzhev ("this is not Madonna, this is Raphael's faith"), K. Bryullov, V. Belinsky ("a strictly classical figure and not at all romantic"), A.I. Herzen, A. Fet, L.N. Tolstoy, I. Goncharov, I. Repin, F.M. Dostoevsky. Several times mentions this work, A.S., who has not seen it with his own eyes. Pushkin.

After World War II, the painting was kept in the storerooms of the Pushkin Museum until it was returned, along with the entire Dresden collection, to the GDR authorities in 1955. Before that, "Madonna" was presented to the Moscow public. On seeing off "Sistine Madonna" V.S. Grossman responded with the story of the same name, where he connected the famous image with his own memories of Treblinka: "Looking after the Sistine Madonna, we maintain the belief that life and freedom are one, that there is nothing higher than human in man."

The enthusiasm evoked by the painting among travelers, which became routine, led to a certain reaction against this work, as well as against the work of Raphael as a whole, which from the second half of the 19th century became associated with academicism. Already Leo Tolstoy wrote: "The Madonna of Sistine ... does not evoke any feeling, but only an agonizing concern about whether I am experiencing the feeling that is required."

Even in reference books it is noted that the colors of "Madonna" are noticeably faded; neither placing the picture under glass nor museum lighting contributes to the enhancement of the effect produced by it. When the famous image was exhibited in Moscow, Faina Ranevskaya reacted to the disappointment of some intellectuals as follows: "This lady has been liked by so many for so many centuries that now she herself has the right to choose who she likes."

The perception of this image in popular culture, which sometimes crosses the brink of vulgarity, also played a role. At the 2012 Dresden exhibition, dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the masterpiece, many consumer goods with reproductions of Raphael's putti were demonstrated: "winged children puff out their cheeks from the pages of 19th century girls' albums, turn into two cute pigs in an advertisement for a Chicago sausage manufacturer in the 1890s." a wine label with them, here is an umbrella, here is a candy box, and here is toilet paper, "Kommersant wrote about this exhibition 4.

"I wanted to be an eternal spectator of one picture", - said Pushkin about "Sistine Madonna" brushes of the great Raphael Santi.

This Renaissance masterpiece was first painted by the artist without the help of his students and showed the Mother of God, who literally descends to the viewer, turning her soft gaze on him.

Raphael received an order to create a painting in 1512 and immediately moved from Rome to a remote province in order to get down to business as soon as possible. The artist seemed to feel that the Sistine Madonna was intended to become the apogee of his creative talent. Many said that the picture was created at a time when Raphael was experiencing personal grief, so he put his sadness in the image of a beautiful maiden with sad eyes. In the mother's gaze, the viewer is able to read excitement and humility - feelings caused by foreseeing the inevitable tragic fate of their own son. Madonna tremulously hugs the child, as if sensing the moment when she will have to tear the tender baby from her heart and present the Savior to humanity.

Initially, the "Sistine Madonna" was conceived as an altarpiece for the chapel of the monastery of St. Sixtus. At that time, for such a work, the masters "stuffed their hand" on a wooden board, but Raphael Santi depicted the Mother of God on canvas, and soon her figure majestically towered over the semicircular choir of the church.
The artist depicted his Madonna as barefoot, covered in a simple veil and devoid of a halo of holiness. In addition, many viewers noted that a woman was holding a child in her arms, as ordinary peasant women did. Despite the fact that Virgo is devoid of visible attributes of high origin, the other heroes of the picture greet her as a queen. The young Barbara with her gaze expresses reverence for the Madonna, and Saint Sixtus kneels before her and stretches out his hand, which marks a symbol of the appearance of the Mother of God to people. If you look more closely, it seems as if six fingers "flaunt" on Sixt's outstretched hand. There were legends that by doing so, Raphael wanted to beat the original name of the Roman bishop, which is translated from Latin as "sixth". In fact, having an extra finger is just an illusion, and the viewer sees the inside of Sixt's palm.

Various rumors circulated around the depicted image of the Mother of God. Some researchers note that Madonna is a deity in human form, and her face is considered to be the embodiment of the ideal of ancient beauty. Karl Bryullov once said about her:

"The more you look, the more you feel the incomprehensibility of these beauties: every feature is thought out, full of expression of grace, combined with the strictest style."

Today it is impossible to establish for sure whether the Virgo was really the same as Raphael portrayed her, therefore many legends are added around this issue. One of them says that Fornarina, the beloved woman and model of the artist, became the prototype of the legendary Madonna. But in a friendly letter to Baldassar Castiglione, the master said that he did not create the image of perfect beauty from a certain girl, but synthesized his impressions of many beauties who were destined to meet Raphael.

Creating a collective image, the great artist managed to combine the features of the highest religious ideal with the highest humanity in the Sistine Madonna, while maintaining the simplicity of the composition. Many noted that, as if knowing the secrets of the universe, he opened the curtain to the incomprehensible world for a person, as Carlo Maratti said:

"If I was shown a picture of Raphael and I would not know anything about himself, if I were told that this is the creation of an angel, I would have believed."