DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.69035#0263
A DESCRIPTION OF THE CARTOONS OF
RAPHAEL URBIN.
When a man enters upon a survey of the cartoons of
Raphael (says Mr. Richardson, in his Essay on the
Theory of Painting), he finds himself amongst a sort
of people superior to what he has ever seen, and very
probably to what those really were. Indeed this is
(speaking of grace and greatness) the principal excel-
lence of those wonderful pictures, as it must be allowed
to be that part of painting which is preferable to all
others. These inimitable pieces are called Cartoons, from
their being executed upon paper; and are nothing more
than coloured drawings, upon a washed ground pre-
viously prepared for that purpose, the shadows of which
are made by hatching with the point of a large pencil,
and the whole are very highly finished : they were origi-
nally intended as patterns for tapestry, and were entirely
the work of that great master, Raphael Urbin. It is
almost impossible to consider these pictures without sup-
posing that, as the miraculous draught of fishes is the
only miracle of our Saviour’s to be found among them,
it is more than probable, that what this country happily
possesses is but a part of a most stupendous work of this
great man; and that many more glorious cartoons of
the life and miracles of our Saviour have perished in
oblivion ; for it can hardly be conceived that this single
subject could particularly engage the attention of Ra-
phael, among many others which would undoubtedly
have made better pictures, and been more suitable to his
120
RAPHAEL URBIN.
When a man enters upon a survey of the cartoons of
Raphael (says Mr. Richardson, in his Essay on the
Theory of Painting), he finds himself amongst a sort
of people superior to what he has ever seen, and very
probably to what those really were. Indeed this is
(speaking of grace and greatness) the principal excel-
lence of those wonderful pictures, as it must be allowed
to be that part of painting which is preferable to all
others. These inimitable pieces are called Cartoons, from
their being executed upon paper; and are nothing more
than coloured drawings, upon a washed ground pre-
viously prepared for that purpose, the shadows of which
are made by hatching with the point of a large pencil,
and the whole are very highly finished : they were origi-
nally intended as patterns for tapestry, and were entirely
the work of that great master, Raphael Urbin. It is
almost impossible to consider these pictures without sup-
posing that, as the miraculous draught of fishes is the
only miracle of our Saviour’s to be found among them,
it is more than probable, that what this country happily
possesses is but a part of a most stupendous work of this
great man; and that many more glorious cartoons of
the life and miracles of our Saviour have perished in
oblivion ; for it can hardly be conceived that this single
subject could particularly engage the attention of Ra-
phael, among many others which would undoubtedly
have made better pictures, and been more suitable to his
120