The early work of Raphael . esco della Rovere,just as Raphaels St. George was presented to Henry VII. after Guido-baldo had been made a Knight of the Garter. But, whatever its exactdate may be, this St. Michael is clearly a work of Raphaels early warrior-saint, armed with the red-cross shield and brandishing hissword above his head like some paladin of old, might have steppedstraight out of some nursery-book of fairy tales. His youthful faceand glittering helmet recall the sleeping Knight of the Dream, hisgreen wings are touched with gold after the manner of Timoteos saints,and the s
The early work of Raphael . esco della Rovere,just as Raphaels St. George was presented to Henry VII. after Guido-baldo had been made a Knight of the Garter. But, whatever its exactdate may be, this St. Michael is clearly a work of Raphaels early warrior-saint, armed with the red-cross shield and brandishing hissword above his head like some paladin of old, might have steppedstraight out of some nursery-book of fairy tales. His youthful faceand glittering helmet recall the sleeping Knight of the Dream, hisgreen wings are touched with gold after the manner of Timoteos saints,and the scaly dragon and grotesque monsters crawling away behind him arethe offspring of the same childish fancy. But the smoking towers of THE EARLY WORK OF RAPHAEL 15 the City of Dis in the background, and the poor souls tortured bycruel demons or wandering to and fro under the weight of their leadencapes, like the hooded monks of Cologne, are evidently borrowed fromDantes Inferno. So exact is the rendering of the torments endured. Tie Vision 0/ a Knight. By Raphael. National Gallery. by the thieves and hypocrites, as described in the 23rd and 24th Cantosof the Inferno, that we are inclined to think young Raphael musthave copied this part of his picture from one of those splendidlyillustrated copies of Dante that were the glory of the ducal palace. 16 THE EARLY WORK OF RAPHAEL If this may help to explain the Dantesque imagery of the St. Michael,the third work which Morelli ascribes to this period—the Three Graces,now at Chantilly—doubtless owes its origin to some antique gem orminiature from some Latin manuscript in the ducal collection. Butanything less classical than this little picture it would be hard to has certainly no connection with the marble group at Siena whichPinturicchio copied on a sheet of the Venice Sketch-book, and which waslong supposed to have supplied Raphael with this motive. There isnothing Greek or statuesque about these three maidens who stand s
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookde, booksubjectraphael14831520, bookyear1895
