DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61022#0032
EARLY YEARS
might have been omitted in the life of Raphael himself. More-
over, allowing that Morelli did good service in emphasising a
likeness between the works of Viti and Raphael, it by no means
follows that the connection occurred during these years. There
were other occasions before Raphael went to Rome when he and
Timoteo might have met.
The obscurity of the documents baffles any attempt of the
critical imagination to reconstruct the details of Raphael’s early
life. It is mere waste of words to describe his life as a boy in the
household of his stepmother and guardian, or to picture him as
learning the rudiments of his art from Timoteo Viti or any other
painter of Urbino and wandering at will through the mountain
town and among the treasures of Guidubaldo’s castle, since he
may have been at this time in Perugia. It is equally absurd to
attempt to watch his progress in the studio of Perugino, since,
even if he were there at this date, the master who taught him
in Perugino’s frequent absence is unknown in name. But, after
all, this ignorance is a matter of little importance. Had the
adventures of his life during this period been of great moment;
had the influences which he underwent marked the direction of
his art, tradition, documents, or the pictures themselves would
have borne clear witness to their character. As it is, we are in
the position in which Vasari and the contemporaries of Raphael
found themselves. For us, as for them, the story of his early life
resolves itself into an account of Urbino and Perugia; his early
influences are his father’s and that of the circle of his father,
Perugino’s and the circle of Perugino, and the exact weight
which is to be attached to each cannot be estimated with the
slightest approach to accuracy.
Nor is it a matter of great importance how these influences
are divided. By the year 1500 at the latest, Raphael was work-
ing with Perugino, and, wherever he was working in the years
preceding that date, he was still within the range of Perugino’s
art, drawing from the same sources as produced much of
10
might have been omitted in the life of Raphael himself. More-
over, allowing that Morelli did good service in emphasising a
likeness between the works of Viti and Raphael, it by no means
follows that the connection occurred during these years. There
were other occasions before Raphael went to Rome when he and
Timoteo might have met.
The obscurity of the documents baffles any attempt of the
critical imagination to reconstruct the details of Raphael’s early
life. It is mere waste of words to describe his life as a boy in the
household of his stepmother and guardian, or to picture him as
learning the rudiments of his art from Timoteo Viti or any other
painter of Urbino and wandering at will through the mountain
town and among the treasures of Guidubaldo’s castle, since he
may have been at this time in Perugia. It is equally absurd to
attempt to watch his progress in the studio of Perugino, since,
even if he were there at this date, the master who taught him
in Perugino’s frequent absence is unknown in name. But, after
all, this ignorance is a matter of little importance. Had the
adventures of his life during this period been of great moment;
had the influences which he underwent marked the direction of
his art, tradition, documents, or the pictures themselves would
have borne clear witness to their character. As it is, we are in
the position in which Vasari and the contemporaries of Raphael
found themselves. For us, as for them, the story of his early life
resolves itself into an account of Urbino and Perugia; his early
influences are his father’s and that of the circle of his father,
Perugino’s and the circle of Perugino, and the exact weight
which is to be attached to each cannot be estimated with the
slightest approach to accuracy.
Nor is it a matter of great importance how these influences
are divided. By the year 1500 at the latest, Raphael was work-
ing with Perugino, and, wherever he was working in the years
preceding that date, he was still within the range of Perugino’s
art, drawing from the same sources as produced much of
10