Show J 4 r A r 1 M S 'S I r 4 f Y kj 1 on oil Rap Madonna M dorna Y U A A Y H 4 a v 4 4 l L F f y l' l V 4 a ti aS V. V 6 rr Y'S Y v s 4 6 CL I 0 I y f j r T R. R a JE w re a f y y 1 Yf if idl jHk i i 2 i m i WHO J HO 0 Was Inspiration for OI Lover Lovely Paintings of M Mother and Child by b Prince of Painters ii mss Ancient Documents Lately Found in 1 7 Rome Verify Legend Only Woman He Her r F. F Ever vel Loved Was Daughter of a H Humble lUll bl e B Baker a k el eliE Iff iE By Kathleen Read ea Coontz r 1 EYES YES of exquisite beauty and touched with mystery l shining shilling hair parted pasted across a brow part child part tender saint a mouth of wistful curves this curves this is the gentle face that has looked down from gold frames occupying places of honor in the w worlds world's s art gaII galleries ries this the beautiful whose features were to be immor immortalized in Raphael's most sublime this is the human adoring adoring ador ador- ing woman who played such a I poignant role in the life of th the e master inspiring him in work th that tha t has come come down to us the us-the the glory o of f tf I th the Italian Renaissance whose Renaissance whose e-whose whose e i i it who was lost loi to me world worM for fora If S a while and who has arisen in the ent discovery of old documents f t to take her place by the side of her r lover Fo For Fat centuries scholars and lovers of art have been working to reveal the mystery in which the life of Raphael di Santi has been half veiled It was generally acknowledged ac- ac that there was one w woman man and only one in the life C of the Prince of Painters but who she was and what her name was WM were unknown The name Marl Margretha Margretha Mar l gretha mentioned in several of theartist's the theart theartist's art artists artist's ts t's sonnets written during the last nine years of his short life apparently was the only identification obtainable of this woman The Little a n. term applied to her by some biographers half in half in affection half in scorn arose from the legend that she was the daughter of ofa ofa a a bake baker Raphael's will ill which provided f for r her bountifully mentions her merely as tho the inmate of or the Villa The villa vilJa i S' S still stands a mute witness to the artists artist's love for this unknown Margretha but long before the world was clamoring toy to y know more more about the creator of at those J Immortal canvases Margretha slipped aw away y and gradually became little more than a myth Certain biographers began to dwell upon the tho fact th that t because the theartist theartist artist rt t remained unmarried he had never known love that his human affections were wera sublimated entirely in his art that the faces beautiful haunting with which he embodied his were mere figments of the brain To uphold this theory one of Raphael's letters has been often quoted It was written mitten to Raphael's loyal friend and patron Count send and nd is in part fi t AS A S FOR the he Galatea I should count t. t myself a a great master if half the things that Your Highness finds in her were there but in your words I reco recognize e th Vwe bear you me And I tell teU you if t It am to paint pint beauty l women I mU must t tsee see several and make the condition that Your Highness should be with me to choose the fairest But since good judges and lovely women are alike aUke rare I make use of at it 4 certain ideal that L is in my mind i But that this ideal which he carried jn in his mind he also carried in his heart and life Ute it was left to recent d discoveries to prove beyond nil all doubt The fragmentary fragmentary frag frag- fragmentary history of the love of Raphael Is 18 being put together through old documents documents docu docu- ments ment which have recently come to light In the Eternal City and in Florence The documents are communications to c 1 y r I II I 1 F i. i t if j s V l L l 5 C t n dv r. r kaa i The famous Madonna U di San k Sisto for which Raphael Ra hoot I a undoubtedly used the same I i S S model mode as for his Ids Donna a r k Y and s several of his other famous 4 Y ri a r Y A 0 1 Af Madonna della dena Sedia a inthe in inthe the tho PitH Palace is typical of Raphael's work and from members of the Chigi family a n. royal Italian house and through the numerous nu- nu numerous numerous nu nu- references the mysterious Margretha Margretha Mar Mar- Margretha gretha is given a name and l history story She has now been c established as Margretha Luti the daughter of Francesco Luti who came to Rome from Siena with the Chigi family for whom Raphael designed the palace in which Premier Mussolini maintains maintains main main- maintains the Foreign Ministry Francesco Luti was a baker by trade which verifies the much-disputed much legend of the Little and seems to have come from Siena to Rome as a member of the Chigi domestic corps But later tater we find him with his own shop in the Traves Traves- tere quarter of Rome and the community Is talking of the infatuation of the already famous young painter for the beautiful young girl who helped her father in his shop That this Margretha Luti was the face that is Immortalized in several of the later might b be further proved by an extract from the memoirs of Of Raphael he writes He loved one woman to the end and made a beautiful l land and living portrait of her The portrait entitled La Donna Velata is the only portrait of a woman tainted painted by Raphael in his his last years gears gears- cars cars- which would seem to identify Margretha Luti and Donna Velata as one and the same There Is no evidence needed for forthe forthe forthe the rest One glance at the face of Donna and that of the Madonna della Sedia Madonna Madonna Madonna Ma Ma- Ma- Ma donna of the Chair and the supreme triumph of the madonna series Madonna di dl San Sisto is enough to convince even the most mOt skeptical that the same model was used in each of the paintings NOT OT Judging the morals morals of at the thc sixteenth six six- L' L century by those of today R Raphael's life lite was one of ot singular beauty and purity It might not be surprising and also reflects the face of La ha LaDonna LaDonna Donna Velata for later disclosures to be made revealing that the thc artist and the only love of h his is life lite were secretly married It has been so intimated by several biographers who find it lard hard to associate the divine Raphael Raphael Ra Ra- Raphael with an all affair unblessed by the time Church In whose service he poured ou out t his genius and his life blood But be that tha thaas t as it may there is no doubt that he loved love d her and that his loyalty to her was th the e cause of much distress on the part of ot others In several letters extant written in th the theartist's e artists artist's own hand we find him protesting g at the choice of a wife who has bee been n selected for fot him by relatives and high higI prelates And these in the the- thelast last Jast nine years the years he knew Margretha That he was was was' almost persuaded once to a marriage for material gala gain aIn is shown in the following letter written the 1st of July 1514 to his cousin Simone In hi Urbino Urbino Urbino Ur- Ur bino the artists artist's birthplace and addressing addressing address address- ing him affectionately as Dearest In place at of a father I I- have come fairly out ont a of the thema ma r of a wife but to that 1 answer that y you u may know that St. St Maria Mala in Por Por- ticu Cardinal wants me to have one of his relatives and with the assent of you and the cousin priest I promise todo todo to todo do what His Reverend Lordship wanted and I cannot break my word We are arenow arenow arenow now on the point of settling and I will let Jet you know later But the promises were no not fulfilled Other documents show that Raphael delayed delayed delayed de de- de- de the nuptials for many and sundry reasons Finally fate came to the rescue fescue a of the lover torn between the woman of his heart and a marriage that would bring him social socia prestige in Rome Maria Merla I. I f h- h a. a 0 1 3 d r rw w A Ae e f p X n f t 4 s ti 5 f EF S K ij Y d f L Y C In Madonna del Gran Ducat Duca as in many of his earlier carlier works Raphael painted tho the face from his memory of his mother died But what what was denied her herin herin herin in life was given iven her in death and that which was given the fair fab Margretha in life was denied her In death for today the ashes of the immortal master rest in inthe inthe inthe the Pantheon beside the niece cf of the Cardinal Today outside a of art treasures Rome is pitifully bereft of landmarks enriched by the life of or Raphael St. St Peters Peter's Cathedral stands an immortal immor immor- tal witness to the herculean architectural task upon which the artist was engaged his life ended The Vatican of c urse is 15 replete with his frescoes and wor works of art and the palace designed for forthe forthe forthe the by Raphael now the seat of ot the Fascist Government Is well preserved There are three remaining landmarks Which speak of Margreth I the first of these having been identified recently through documents The baker shop in the Trav tere quarter of Rome still r L X iJ 1 JP dV L- L J y ol t J l A r i q f y W El i. i Raphael Raphael's s studio from a painting by C. C J. J Jalabert This artist also associated ted the face of La Donna Velata now thought to be De Margretha Margretha Mar Mar- gretha g retha Luti with Raphael and in the above picture pic- pic M Sv ture tort used her face for that 0 ot of the model La Donna V Velata clala the only portrait of ofa a woman painted by Raphael in Romp Rome is undoubtedly the the fa face co of his beloved Margretha l Luti the Little stands and is strangely strange ly enough still a bak bakeshop baker bake er shop the Villa Mad Mad- dama is now known to have been bee n b built u 11 t by Raphael for his Margretha Margretha Mar Max gretha and it U is to tl this es s silla villa illa that he refers i in n his will Only the basement basement base bas e ment and a part part of a awing awing wing remain today of Romes Rome's greatest Raphael Rapha shrine shrine shrine-Raphael's Raphael's home horn e This spot al also so knew Margretha for it too was a a. setting for f or their meetings actor according accord accord- d ing to Whether cr this contemporary of Raphael's knew t the he name of the artists artist's b be beloved be- be e loved is not known b blie but bu tIt lie he is careful in his Ills writ t ing to make n no menti mention on of or it An incident th that at he relates shows to win winan what at an extent Ia was enshrined in the life Ufe Ii fe of Raphael during th the most f fever feverish ash years of his career We find it related that his intimate inti ant i mate friend Agostino Chigi has con com him to paint the first floor of his palace but Raphael w wa was at tin that at time so o mu mull h occupied the lovo to which he ho bow bON the lady of ot his choice th tha thai az he could not give give- sufficient time to h his work Agostino Agostino- therefore falling at length in despair of seeing it finished d made so many efforts by means of or frien friends ds and by his own care that after mu much h difficulty Y he at length prevailed upon the lady to take up her abode in where his hou house se she was accordingly installed In apartments near those which Raphael w was as painting in this manner the work w was as ultimately brought to a conclusion That the romance tween these which existed between be be- be two lovers was one far abo above the ordinary v e clandestine when one affair is evident evade ut glances at the bea beauty ty at and d f J II ri II H c 1 V purity which shine forth from froIn both faces face The world of genius has never known a rarer nature than that of Raphael that tha of his beloved must in a sense be measured meas meas- meas y 1 by what we know of him singularly devoid of the and jealousies which seem to have an unfortunate tun ate way of attaching taching themselves to tomen men of genius Raphael's short shorn thirty thirty- Sven seven years left a radiance with whomever he lie came in fn contact Possessed of or a mind of inexhaustible beauty a devout and noble soul a nature whose very gentleness and ana kindliness are proverbial and a most mot remarkable physical beauty Raphael moved through life Iffe untouched by dro dross e e painted birds and flowers as he saw them along his way and under his brush they glowed with a sublime light he painted babies whose warm dimpled flesh cuddled in their mothers mother's arms in every doorway and on the canvas they were invested with a a. hidden power and glory he painted the face of a a. woman and straightway her ber personality and humanity were merged in the artists artist's supreme faa wn of the worlds world's madonna F THE thirty-seven thirty 1 OF by Raphael fifteen were painted between be between between be- be tween the years 1511 the 1511 the years of ol his association with Margretha and Margretha and they all bear a striking resemblance A few of the best known of these are Madonna de Divino Amore 1511 Naples Gallery Madonna au an 1514 St. St Petersburg Peters PeteroS- burg Gallery Madonna della Sedia 1516 Patti Gallery Madonna la Perla 1518 1516 Dresden Gal Gal- lery Madonna della Roas 1519 Gal Gat- lery And the madonna which Is hailed balled by many critics as the worlds world's greatest painting paInting painting paint paInt- ing Madonna dl di San Sisto which occupies pies an entire room in tho the Dresden Gallery Gallery Gallery Gal Gal- lery was painted the same year that the theartist artist painted the portrait La Donna Velata 1518 t In Raphael's early the artist is thought to have used the memory ot of his mothers mother's face as l his s model Giovanni di dl Santa Santi the father of Raphael was a painter of no small ability On a awall wall lalI in the courtyard of his home in Urbino is a faded fresco still sUll preserved showing a mother and a child The gentIe gen gen- tIe tle face small smaIl head and fair hair is the same face that Raphael painted in his ills early of which the Madonna Ma Ma- donna del Gran Duca Duce In the Pitt Putt Palace painted in 1504 when Raphael was only 21 Is the most exquisite If It the twelve years o 0 his career In the Eternal City were the most renowned of the artists artist's career they were also the tha most strenuous In his fervent effo efto to do all that was expected of the Painter of Rome a title conferred on him by Church authorities who elevated him by important commissions he imposed a ft terrific strain on his vitality When one ont reads of of his tasks and activities during these years there thero I comfort In n the thought of his happiness with Margretha a happiness that tucked away from the world world clamored for his genius and for forgot of the man 6 F DUST centuries ago in some unknown spot remote no doubt from the under at altar the lover Pantheon dome where lies lles her is all aU that is left of the beauty of the masters master's bolo beloved beloved- veer Today she lives U o only my IY in the light o of R OI Raphael's apI aels ael's genius cenius the e few Ine Inh in short years h i ie were all that the h e fates allowed him Raphael not n of only acc accomplished p fish ed more than any of his con curl temporaries but by the simplicity p 1 t Y of ot his genius an and d the L clearness cleanup a of his langua language he appealed to far get getAs a tar larger circle lifetime As the tine public claimed the roan man man manin In hi his so 50 it has s claimed the his its genius to in j centuries since That Margretha Marge j lungs to be that n corner ot of he Ills his life w ch guarded jealously j ly world Ls is certain and front 1 the clam n g J her makes es it also role l in h his s art an n a certain th that t Ra Raphael nel enter sacred regard t for or her h j CO by b lIo Lg j J |