DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.59633#0204
142
for tire rvorks, and Ire thinks of nothing else. lde Iras given me as a
colleague a ver/ learned frate, of at least eight/ /ears of age, and rvlro
Iras not long to live. Mis Holiness gave rne tlris man of great reputation
and great learning for a colleague, tlrat I might prolrt b/ lrim, ancl if lre
lras a noble secret in architecture, tlrat I might learn it also, ancl tlrus
attain perfection in tlre art. Me is named Mra Oiocondo. Hre Rope sends
for us ever/ 6a/, and speaks to us for some time about tlre rvorks. I pra/
/ou to go to tire duke and cluclress ancl tell tlrsrn all tlris ; for I know tbat
it gives tlrem pleasure to bear tlrat one of tbsir subjects is doing tlrem
honour, and comment me to their highnesses, as I also commsncl m/self
to /ou. Lalute all m/ friends ancl relations in nr/ name, ancl especial!/
Rodolfo, who bears such great ancl kind affection to me.
" Rlris ^ul/ i.st, 1514.
" Vour Rh.hrt.RR, painter at Rome."
It would seem from tlris letter tlrat Raphael lracl consented rather
through condescension than inclination to the marriage proposed for him
with tlre niece of (Cardinal Libiena? ^Ve know, however," that two /ears
later, 1516, he was still ver/ intimate with Cardinal Ilibiena, and tlrat
the project for the alliance still subsisted. Ibis is proved besides b/ the
inscription in rnemor/ of Maria da Libisna, in Raphael's sepulchral chapel
in the Rantlreon, and from which it appears tlrat Maria died before
Raphael. It has been supposed tlrat Maria, being ver/ delicate, it was
necessar/ to dela/ the marriage, and that her death alone put an end to
these projects and hopes, Notwithstanding this, man/ have imagined
that Raphael himself was reluctant to realise his union with Maria da
Libiena. Lome writers have attributed to him, without an/ proof, a
decided aversion to this marriage. Others have repeated the assertion
of Vasari tlrat Ire alwa/s endeavoured to defer tlris alliance, because Ire
hoped to obtain a cardinal's hat, as a compensation for the mone/ tlrat
the Rope owed lrim ; but tlris is entire!/ imaginar/, for all tire works were
paid for punctually at the time irxed. Vhere could not, moreover, be
' rhnAslo Maria Randini : " Msmoris per la vita clsl card. Divid," Divorno, 1758,
p. 25. " His cardinal was sxtrsrnsl/ anxious to ^ivs Hirn a wits, and at length Raphael
resolved to be Zuidsd d/ Lidisna, and accepted a niece of tire cardinal's as Iris hrids."
Rronr Lsrnbo's letters to Cardinal Ridisna. 8es " Dells Rettsrs di Ivl. Metro
Leindo," Vensda, 1560, pp. 14-22.
On /tuA. 1, 1514, Raphael received tire last 100 scudi still owinA of tke 1,200 Zolcl
for tire rvorks, and Ire thinks of nothing else. lde Iras given me as a
colleague a ver/ learned frate, of at least eight/ /ears of age, and rvlro
Iras not long to live. Mis Holiness gave rne tlris man of great reputation
and great learning for a colleague, tlrat I might prolrt b/ lrim, ancl if lre
lras a noble secret in architecture, tlrat I might learn it also, ancl tlrus
attain perfection in tlre art. Me is named Mra Oiocondo. Hre Rope sends
for us ever/ 6a/, and speaks to us for some time about tlre rvorks. I pra/
/ou to go to tire duke and cluclress ancl tell tlrsrn all tlris ; for I know tbat
it gives tlrem pleasure to bear tlrat one of tbsir subjects is doing tlrem
honour, and comment me to their highnesses, as I also commsncl m/self
to /ou. Lalute all m/ friends ancl relations in nr/ name, ancl especial!/
Rodolfo, who bears such great ancl kind affection to me.
" Rlris ^ul/ i.st, 1514.
" Vour Rh.hrt.RR, painter at Rome."
It would seem from tlris letter tlrat Raphael lracl consented rather
through condescension than inclination to the marriage proposed for him
with tlre niece of (Cardinal Libiena? ^Ve know, however," that two /ears
later, 1516, he was still ver/ intimate with Cardinal Ilibiena, and tlrat
the project for the alliance still subsisted. Ibis is proved besides b/ the
inscription in rnemor/ of Maria da Libisna, in Raphael's sepulchral chapel
in the Rantlreon, and from which it appears tlrat Maria died before
Raphael. It has been supposed tlrat Maria, being ver/ delicate, it was
necessar/ to dela/ the marriage, and that her death alone put an end to
these projects and hopes, Notwithstanding this, man/ have imagined
that Raphael himself was reluctant to realise his union with Maria da
Libiena. Lome writers have attributed to him, without an/ proof, a
decided aversion to this marriage. Others have repeated the assertion
of Vasari tlrat Ire alwa/s endeavoured to defer tlris alliance, because Ire
hoped to obtain a cardinal's hat, as a compensation for the mone/ tlrat
the Rope owed lrim ; but tlris is entire!/ imaginar/, for all tire works were
paid for punctually at the time irxed. Vhere could not, moreover, be
' rhnAslo Maria Randini : " Msmoris per la vita clsl card. Divid," Divorno, 1758,
p. 25. " His cardinal was sxtrsrnsl/ anxious to ^ivs Hirn a wits, and at length Raphael
resolved to be Zuidsd d/ Lidisna, and accepted a niece of tire cardinal's as Iris hrids."
Rronr Lsrnbo's letters to Cardinal Ridisna. 8es " Dells Rettsrs di Ivl. Metro
Leindo," Vensda, 1560, pp. 14-22.
On /tuA. 1, 1514, Raphael received tire last 100 scudi still owinA of tke 1,200 Zolcl