This has long been a favorite painting of mine by the artist, Raphael. Commissioned in 1512 by Pope Julius, the Virgin Mary holds the Christ child and is flanked by St. Sixtus and St. Barbara. One of the purchases I first made at a local art store was a pack of cards with the two putti ( artistic male children with wings, that became more representative of cherubs during the Baroque period ) at the bottom.
They are often depicted separately but they are originally from this painting. It was sold in 1754, and Augustus III is said to have moved his throne to display it better. The painting has even survived the joint bombing of Dresden, in WWII. The Soviets rescued it and displayed it before its return to Germany, amid controversial rumors of the rescue and storage.
Definitely a masterpiece, by any standard, the painting evokes rich colors, red gold and the blue or lapis lazuli, which is said to be under the feet of God in the Bible and emotions that spark a religious experience.
Rebecca Jones
This will be my last post here for a while as I work on other blogs. Thank you for reading, God bless, please enjoy previous posts.
On Angel's Wings 