The midsummer of Italian art . and in the noontide splendor of thepapal court, Raphael was always the same modest,unpretending, and self-possessed person. This wasa quality which neither self-denial nor self-controlcould have given him. It must be born in a manonce for all. Susceptible as an artist always must be, he seemedto possess a talisman to distinguish those influenceswhich were beneficial from those which were in-jurious. Impassioned and ardent as few men haveever been, he always loved with moderation andselected his friends with good judgment. He lovedhis art so well that even the mos
The midsummer of Italian art . and in the noontide splendor of thepapal court, Raphael was always the same modest,unpretending, and self-possessed person. This wasa quality which neither self-denial nor self-controlcould have given him. It must be born in a manonce for all. Susceptible as an artist always must be, he seemedto possess a talisman to distinguish those influenceswhich were beneficial from those which were in-jurious. Impassioned and ardent as few men haveever been, he always loved with moderation andselected his friends with good judgment. He lovedhis art so well that even the most refined pleasurescould not distract him from it; neither was he soambitious as to endanger his health by moral nature was so finely balanced that ambi-tion and duty were almost the same to him. MichelAngelo may be said to have lived in his work; butRaphael both lived in it and out of it, and was allthe better for this,—more human, tender, andsympathetic. He was slender, fragile-looking, and MADONNA WITH THE BOOK (Diotalevi Madonna) BY RAPHAEL Berlin Museum The Evolution of Raphael. i 71 but never effeminate, and with plenty of masculinegood sense. It is doubtful if a more sensible personever existed. His tact was genius in itself. Womenlive by tact, and when they are obliged to reasonthey are generally found at fault; while with men itis just the reverse. It often happens that men whopossess a great deal of tact are indecisive and lackgood judgment in important affairs. But Raphaelwas equally judicious in small matters and the great-est. He seemed to be infallible, and his tact andjudgment were so welded together that it was diffi-cult to say where one ended and the other men so great as he have been so nearly faultless. The feminine element in him may, on the whole,be considered an advantage. No poets, exceptShakspeare and Goethe, have penetrated so deeplyinto the nature of woman and the mystery of herbeing; nor have any succeede
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Keywords: ., bookauthorstearnsf, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1911
