RAPHAEL. 



worthy ot remark how his mind enbrged, in regard to ftyle 

 in the art, as he became accuftomed to confider largely of 

 his work ; and according to the field of employment which he 

 found before him. The difference in ftyle between one part 

 of the pifture, and that of the other, evidently points out 

 where he began it ; viz. on the rigiit of the upper part, 

 where the remains of the fchool of Perugino appears, and is 

 fpread through the centre, where the glory winch furrounds 

 our Saviour is reprefented in the Gothic manner, by 

 rays of gold. As he proceeded, his ftyle enlarged, and 

 the lower part of the pifture exhibits an immenfe im- 

 provement, and is almoft equal to any of his fubfequent pro- 

 duftions. 



In the fame room are the pidures of the School of Athens, 

 tlieParna'luK, painted in 15 12, (where, furrounding Apollo 

 and the Mules, lie has introduced portraits of the great 

 poets, both of antiquity and of his ovifn time,) and the 

 Jurifprudence, coniprizijig two fubjefts, one of the em- 

 peror Juftinian delivering the digeft of his code of laws to 

 Tribonius, and another of pope Gregory IV. giving the 

 decretal to a member of the confillory. Over each of thefe 

 fubjedls, refpedtively, are painted circular ones of fingle 

 figures, rep.-efenting Theology, Philofophy, Poetry, and 

 Juftice. 



When pope Julius faw the fuperior tafte and talent with 

 which Raphael produced the former of thefe works, he im- 

 mediately ordered the whole of the ftanze, or chambers, 

 which it was intended to decorate, to be entrufted to him ; 

 and all that had previouily been done by Perugino, Pietro 

 del Borgo, 11 Soddoina, and Bramante di Milano, to be 

 removed. But of this order Raphael made only a partial 

 ufe ; preferving entire the work of his firll mafter, and, par- 

 tially, the ornamental labours of II Soddoma. 



While he was engaged upon thefe great works, he was 

 not altogether indifferent to the more agreeable exercife of 

 the pencil, and he painted for the church of the Auguftines, 

 the piftures of the prophet Ifaiah, and the Sibyls who are 

 fuppofed to have predicted the coming of Chrift. He alfo 

 painted the portrait of his great patron, Julius, now in the 

 Louvre, and feveral fmallcr eafel pictures of Madonnas, and 

 other religious fubjefts. By thefe labours he acquired the 

 renown they fo well merited, and his manners appear to have 

 been in perfeft accordance with the beauties of his mmd. 

 His perfon alfo was handfome, and he was beloved, efteemed, 

 and admired. Yet he continued to ftudy, and to improve his 

 talents, employing perfons to coUeft Ipecimens and make 

 drawings from Grecian remains. Full of tafte and feeling, 

 he fpared no pains to perfeft his powers by a thorough know- 

 ledge of all that had been done in aft, both ancient and mo- 

 dern. In confequence, however, the faft, related by Vafari, 

 may be doubted, of his being admitted, while Michael An- 

 gelo was abfent, to fee the work of that great artift in the 

 chapel of Sixtus IV. ; the tafte in which he wrought became 

 aggrandized, and fimilar to that introduced by M. An- 

 gelo. About this time he painted the Galatea for Agoftini 

 Ghigi, and the Madonna di Foligno, at the defire of Sigif- 

 mondo Conti, fecretary of pope Julius II., for the great 

 altar of the church at Araceli, and which is now at the 

 Louvre. 



In another chamber of the Vatican he painted four other 

 large pittures, the fubjefts of which are, the miracle of 

 Bolfenna, when the officiating prieft, who doubted of the 

 real prefence in the Eucharift, is offering up the hoft, and 

 perceiving, with aftoniftiment, that it diftils drops of blood ; 

 the releafe of St. Peter from prifon ; the Heiiodorus ; and 

 Attila arrefted, in his journey to Rome, by a viilon of St. 



Peter and St. Paul; thefe were completed in 1512, 13, 

 and 14. 



In thele piAures his great improvement in colouring 

 and ftyle is moft evident, and he continued to carry it ftiil 

 further into prafiice in another room, for which alfo he had 

 coinpofed four other fubjects, known as the Incendio del 

 Borgo ; the coronation ol Charlemagne by Leo HI. ; 

 the fame pope defending his conduft to the fame emperor ; 

 and the deicent of the Saracens at the port of Oftia. 



Wlulft Raphael was engaged on the Heiiodorus, his firft 

 great patron, Julius II., died ; but fortunately for the arts, 

 if not for the tiara, he was fuccecdcd by another, Leo X., 

 who was even more attached to them, and more fond of the 

 renown arifing from the cultivation of whatever adorns fo- 

 ciety. By him, therefore, Raphael was ardently encou- 

 raged to proceed with his labours, and he continued to 

 make defigns for other apartments, particularly for the 

 great hall of Conftantine, as it is now called ; but he did 

 not live to execute them. The Incendio del Borgo was the 

 laft upon which he himfclf wrought ; the reft v;ere com- 

 pleted by Julio Romano. He was alfo employed by Leo 

 to make the cartoons now at Hampton Court, as exemplars 

 for works in tapeftry, to be executed in Flanders, and which 

 were completed at the expencc of 70,000 crowns. For- 

 tunately for us the originals were never returned to Rome* 

 and were purchafed afterwards by Charles I. 



Upon the death of Bramante, in 1514, the fuperintcnd- 

 ance of the architeftural concerns ot the Vatican was en- 

 trufted to Raphael, who had already exhibited his know- 

 ledge and tafte in that art, by the introduction he had made 

 of it in his pidlures. He invented and began a palace for 

 himfelf, and made feveral defigns for others. 



Notwithftanding the immenfe application neceffary for the 

 invention and completion of thefe important labours, toge- 

 ther with the defit^ns he compofed for the ornamental parts, 

 and the fcriptural fnbjefts on the ceilings and the covings of 

 the loggia and ftanze of the Vatican, he found time to exe- 

 cute in frefco the defigns which adorn the palace of Agoftino 

 Ghigi ; the capital portrait of his great friend Leo X., 

 with the cardinals de Medici and Rofli, now in the Louvre ; 

 the St. Michael, and the viilon of Ezekiel, both in the 

 fame grand depot ; a Madonna, Child, and St. Anne, for 

 Florence ; and a large pifture of Cliriil bearing his Crofs, 

 for the monaftery of St. Maria della Spafimo, at Palermo. 

 Of this picture it is reported, that being fcnt on ftiipboard 

 to go to Sicily, the veffel was beaten from its courfe by a 

 tempeft, and the mariners loft ; when it drifted to Genoa, 

 and of courfe its prefervation was attributed to the divine 

 influence of this great work. The Genoefe chefe alfo to 

 fuppofe that the hand of God had thus pointed out their 

 city as the proper place for its refidence ; and would not 

 relinquilh it for a length of time, till the papal influence in- 

 terfered, when it was configned to its original deitination. 

 He alfo painted the pifture of St. John, which adorned the 

 Orleans colleftion ; and laft of all, the Transfiguration ; 

 which indeed he had not quite finilhed when the unrelenting 

 hand of death fet 2 period to his labours, and deprived the 

 world of further benefit from his talents, when he had only 

 attained an age at which moit other men are but beginning 

 to be ufcful. 



The immediate caufe of his death is allowed to have been 

 brought on by too great an indulgence in gallantry, and, 

 Vafari adds, by mifmanagement of his phyficians, who bled 

 him when they ought to have adminiftered rcttoratives. On 

 his death bed he made his will, leaving his favourite pupils, 

 Julio Romano and II Fattore, his heirs, and ordering his 

 7 burial 



