DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61022#0179
STANZA DELL’ INCENDIO
freedom of Michelangelo and Raphael to typify and represent by
means of the human figure the largeness and the grandeur of a
superhuman world. If these qualities are seized and understood
in the more or less abstract form presented by the statuesque
and isolated figures of the ‘ Sibyls,’ it will be found that they are
the secret key which leads to the understanding of such larger
scenes as those of the * Disputa ’ or the ‘ School of Athens.’
IX
Of the ‘Galatea’ fresco in the Farnesina, which dates from
about this time, and shows how Raphael could throw himself from
the grandiose and Michelangelesque to the purest expression of
his own exquisite sense of grace and charm, more will be said.
Similarly, to avoid repetition, the portraits and pictures of the
Madonna dating from this time must be considered later. The
rough framework of the history of Raphael’s development can only
be completed by proceeding to the decorations in the room on the
far side of the Stanza della Segnatura from the chamber of Helio-
dorus which were begun shortly after the frescoes of that room.
Unfortunately, these frescoes have suffered even more from the
effects of time and restoration than those of the other rooms,
and, as they owed probably more to the hands of Raphael’s
assistants, they are now in so hopeless a condition that they
scarcely deserve more analysis than is habitually given to them.
Such admiration as they now receive is given solely to the fresco
upon the wall opposite the window, on which is painted the legend
of a miraculous cessation of a fire at Rome in answer to the
prayers of Pope Leo iv. (Plates xcv.-xcvn.). The figures of the
refugees from the flames, the suppliants to the Pope, and men
eagerly employed in staying the conflagration occupy the whole
of the foreground, while the Pope himself with a few scattered
figures is placed in the distance, as he was in the ‘ Repulse of
Attila ’ until Leo demanded greater prominence for himself. The
157
freedom of Michelangelo and Raphael to typify and represent by
means of the human figure the largeness and the grandeur of a
superhuman world. If these qualities are seized and understood
in the more or less abstract form presented by the statuesque
and isolated figures of the ‘ Sibyls,’ it will be found that they are
the secret key which leads to the understanding of such larger
scenes as those of the * Disputa ’ or the ‘ School of Athens.’
IX
Of the ‘Galatea’ fresco in the Farnesina, which dates from
about this time, and shows how Raphael could throw himself from
the grandiose and Michelangelesque to the purest expression of
his own exquisite sense of grace and charm, more will be said.
Similarly, to avoid repetition, the portraits and pictures of the
Madonna dating from this time must be considered later. The
rough framework of the history of Raphael’s development can only
be completed by proceeding to the decorations in the room on the
far side of the Stanza della Segnatura from the chamber of Helio-
dorus which were begun shortly after the frescoes of that room.
Unfortunately, these frescoes have suffered even more from the
effects of time and restoration than those of the other rooms,
and, as they owed probably more to the hands of Raphael’s
assistants, they are now in so hopeless a condition that they
scarcely deserve more analysis than is habitually given to them.
Such admiration as they now receive is given solely to the fresco
upon the wall opposite the window, on which is painted the legend
of a miraculous cessation of a fire at Rome in answer to the
prayers of Pope Leo iv. (Plates xcv.-xcvn.). The figures of the
refugees from the flames, the suppliants to the Pope, and men
eagerly employed in staying the conflagration occupy the whole
of the foreground, while the Pope himself with a few scattered
figures is placed in the distance, as he was in the ‘ Repulse of
Attila ’ until Leo demanded greater prominence for himself. The
157