DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.53068#0372
RAPHAEL
§ Revival of Reverence
If these men contributed, to the great tradition in which they lived, each
time and every one from out of himself, a content of their own, and brought
into effect for it a newly founded justification, it is a spectacle worthy of admir-
ation; a greater blessing for us is the fact that, after a long desolation and a period
lacking in reverence, this heritage that has come down to us has a new validity,
now that it has been approached with self-surrender, and the sublime has been
allowed once more to be counted among the stars of our existence.
§ Sense for the Ethical in Raphael
Uncontested through the void of criticism and formalism, friends of art
with a sense for the ethical side of creative genius have drawn up a secular Book of
Saints in which Raphael’s name stands beside that of Goethe. It was love that
sought out the spirit and character in his ideal figures, finding it essential to
enquire into the sources of a culture that made that spirit capable of such high
achievement. A new conscientiousness was awakened in research. Thus a
foundation, as it were, was provided—and an outline, within which the structure
could be carried further.1
§ Influence emanating from Raphael’s Figure as a Youth
There arose, from the circle of those who in aloofness preserved the heritage
of Nietzsche to the Universitas against the ban of the universities, and strove by
their priestly attitude to increase that heritage, a new appreciation of Raphael’s
youthful figure in the midst of the brotherhood inspired by him, an appreciation
of which the rays could not fail to penetrate into the higher realms of
feeling of the period. Romanticism and Hellenism agree to unite in devotion
to this harmony, in Raphael, of soul and phenomenon.
The figure of the artist in all the beauty of youth, captivating and “working
upon” the period and the world about him, as the centre of his enraptured
circle of friends, is pointed out as “passing by” among supporters and opponents,
until in its maturity it seems to grow dim to the affectionate gaze and pass
away.2
§ New View of Raphael’s Form
Even for the consistency displayed by the course of this life, as short as it was
rich in transformations, our vision had to be set free anew. It means much if,
1 Oscar Ollendorf, Raphael-Studien: der Cortigiano-Typus, eine Studie uber Raphaelische Charaktere
1896.—Ueb er Raphaels Wissen, 1913.
2 Wilhelm Stein, Raflael {Blatter der Kunst, 1923).
354
§ Revival of Reverence
If these men contributed, to the great tradition in which they lived, each
time and every one from out of himself, a content of their own, and brought
into effect for it a newly founded justification, it is a spectacle worthy of admir-
ation; a greater blessing for us is the fact that, after a long desolation and a period
lacking in reverence, this heritage that has come down to us has a new validity,
now that it has been approached with self-surrender, and the sublime has been
allowed once more to be counted among the stars of our existence.
§ Sense for the Ethical in Raphael
Uncontested through the void of criticism and formalism, friends of art
with a sense for the ethical side of creative genius have drawn up a secular Book of
Saints in which Raphael’s name stands beside that of Goethe. It was love that
sought out the spirit and character in his ideal figures, finding it essential to
enquire into the sources of a culture that made that spirit capable of such high
achievement. A new conscientiousness was awakened in research. Thus a
foundation, as it were, was provided—and an outline, within which the structure
could be carried further.1
§ Influence emanating from Raphael’s Figure as a Youth
There arose, from the circle of those who in aloofness preserved the heritage
of Nietzsche to the Universitas against the ban of the universities, and strove by
their priestly attitude to increase that heritage, a new appreciation of Raphael’s
youthful figure in the midst of the brotherhood inspired by him, an appreciation
of which the rays could not fail to penetrate into the higher realms of
feeling of the period. Romanticism and Hellenism agree to unite in devotion
to this harmony, in Raphael, of soul and phenomenon.
The figure of the artist in all the beauty of youth, captivating and “working
upon” the period and the world about him, as the centre of his enraptured
circle of friends, is pointed out as “passing by” among supporters and opponents,
until in its maturity it seems to grow dim to the affectionate gaze and pass
away.2
§ New View of Raphael’s Form
Even for the consistency displayed by the course of this life, as short as it was
rich in transformations, our vision had to be set free anew. It means much if,
1 Oscar Ollendorf, Raphael-Studien: der Cortigiano-Typus, eine Studie uber Raphaelische Charaktere
1896.—Ueb er Raphaels Wissen, 1913.
2 Wilhelm Stein, Raflael {Blatter der Kunst, 1923).
354