DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61022#0082
THE TRANSITION PERIOD
IV
With these and similar commissions Raphael was kept busy,
and, to judge by the letter which he wrote to his uncle Ciarlaat
the end of his stay in Florence, he was happy. He expected good
prices for his works, and was so confident of his powers and
reputation that he preferred his paintings to be paid for by
valuation after they were painted to naming a fixed price
beforehand. He speaks of some man, possibly Giovanni Battista
della Palla, who promised him commissions for France as well as
Florence. He asks his uncle to use influence with the new Duke
Francesco Maria in order to obtain a letter of recommendation
from him to the Gonfaloniere of Florence, from whom Raphael
desired a favour concerning either the painting of a room or a
room to paint in. In all, this letter shows no sign of an intention
to leave Florence. But it also shows that Raphael was equally at
home in Urbino. He speaks of a commission which he had
received from Giovanna della Rovere, and of the help she may be
to him at the moment. He sends his message of condolence upon
the death of Duke Guidubaldo, and recommends himself as his
old friend and servant, using a phrase which had a definite
meaning, to his successor Francesco Maria. There is no sugges-
tion in the letter that Raphael was seeking for commissions-
indeed, he definitely asks that the Duke may help him to obtain
some favour concerning a painting-room from the Gonfaloniere of
Florence ; but Raphael can scarcely have been blind to the
advantages which he, as a native of Urbino and a friend of the
Court, could obtain from that town. The execution of small
commissions for the rich men of Florence was scarcely the end of
his ambition, and his sketches and his later performances prove
that he contemplated work in another method and upon another
scale. In those days every painter found his way to the Court of
some Italian or foreign Prince, where great designs could be
60
IV
With these and similar commissions Raphael was kept busy,
and, to judge by the letter which he wrote to his uncle Ciarlaat
the end of his stay in Florence, he was happy. He expected good
prices for his works, and was so confident of his powers and
reputation that he preferred his paintings to be paid for by
valuation after they were painted to naming a fixed price
beforehand. He speaks of some man, possibly Giovanni Battista
della Palla, who promised him commissions for France as well as
Florence. He asks his uncle to use influence with the new Duke
Francesco Maria in order to obtain a letter of recommendation
from him to the Gonfaloniere of Florence, from whom Raphael
desired a favour concerning either the painting of a room or a
room to paint in. In all, this letter shows no sign of an intention
to leave Florence. But it also shows that Raphael was equally at
home in Urbino. He speaks of a commission which he had
received from Giovanna della Rovere, and of the help she may be
to him at the moment. He sends his message of condolence upon
the death of Duke Guidubaldo, and recommends himself as his
old friend and servant, using a phrase which had a definite
meaning, to his successor Francesco Maria. There is no sugges-
tion in the letter that Raphael was seeking for commissions-
indeed, he definitely asks that the Duke may help him to obtain
some favour concerning a painting-room from the Gonfaloniere of
Florence ; but Raphael can scarcely have been blind to the
advantages which he, as a native of Urbino and a friend of the
Court, could obtain from that town. The execution of small
commissions for the rich men of Florence was scarcely the end of
his ambition, and his sketches and his later performances prove
that he contemplated work in another method and upon another
scale. In those days every painter found his way to the Court of
some Italian or foreign Prince, where great designs could be
60