are chiefly cabinet pictures of Holy Families, painted in the
minute and laboured manner of his master, PEHUGINO ; and though refined senti-
ment, beauty of form, grace of composition, and sweetness of espresa sion, are evident in all, the overwrought execution gives to them a dry quaintness that is not inviting to the uninitiated eye. We have the Cartoons, it is true ; and the grandeur and majesty of those sublime crea_ tions impress even the casual observer; but the harshness of the out- lines and the coarse matt rials with which they were drawn, they being designed merely as patterns for tapestry, are not calculated to please the sense ; and people are apt to regard pictures with a passing glance, as if they were intended only to gratify the eye, instead of looking atten- tively at them, so as fully to comprehend the painter's meaning. Among
these drawings by RAFFAELLE, is a cartoon head, of the life-size, of " Timoteo della Vite " (75), with an air of godlike serenity and dignity,
which is executed with the delicacy, elaboration, and power of an oil- painting. From this magnificent drawing we may form an idea of what RAFEAELLE would have made the Cartoons, had he intended them to be viewed as pictures.
The hundred drawings now exhibited—we hope the others will also be shown—contain the first thoughts and studies and finished models of some of RAFFAELLE'S finest works. RAFFAELLE represented nature in its purity and beauty, instinctively rejecting any thing mean and gross, but not sacrificing character to conventional notions of elegance no exaggerating beauty into deformity with the mistaken idea of reaching ideal form his was the true ideal— nature perfected. The slight
sketches are mostly made with piln and bistro, or drawn with a metal point on prepared paper; the studies of heads are chiefly in crayons;
and the finished models of pictures are highly wrought, with light and shade and effect, in sepia. These last are al! on a small scale, and ex- quisitely delicate; the extremities, the muscles of the body and limbs, and the expression of the faces, being indicated with extreme nicety. The beauty and force of the expression in heads not as large as a finger- nail, where the eyes are mere dots of brown, is marvellous. Even in the slight sketches, some idea of the expression of the faces is con- veyed by a single touch : one of a Virgin and Child (37), is a remarkable instance of the precision and freedom with which the beauty of form and composition in the picture is indicated by a few strokes of the pen. But he who could produce so much with so little means, has set a great example to artists of patient labour, study, and exactness, of which this power of correct and rapid indi- cation is one of the results. By comparing the sketch with a coy- recticn in the margin, we perceive how much of truth as well as grace depended upon minute attention to correct drawing. We have several instances where RAFEAELLE has first drawn the naked forms in the at- titudes of the draped figures in his pictures. Modern painters em- ploy drapery to hide the defects of their drawing. RAFFAELLE used it in such a manner as to develop the elegancies of attitude and action in the form beneath. Here is also one instance, and we venture to say not a singular one, in the study of a design representing the Virgin Swooning (25), where the skeleton is actually drawn to show the natural inclination of the powerless limbs of a falling person. What a lesson is this to Academie professors, who teach that only a superficial knowledge of anatomy is requisite for the painter. With- out this intimate acquaintance with the anatomy of the figure, not even Itarrael.i.e himself could have embodied his lovely perceptions of beauty and grace. The divine painter felt that the spirit of pictorial invention must be clothed in bodily forms' and he took care that they should be tit to receive and express it. We now know what RAF FAEI.I.E gained by proficiency in drawing, as well as what STOTHAAD lost by the want of it. We are compelled to make allowance for SroTitaates defects we have only to adore the pc' fection of RAF- FAELLE.
An angel in an outline design for an "Annunciation" (2), made at the age of eighteen, shows how early in his career RAFFAELLE'S genius manifested itself: nothing can surpass its aerial elegance of form and action, and the expression of superhuman benignity and sweetness. His sister, of whom there are several studies at different ages, was the model of his Madonnas ; in whose lineaments may be traced her full oval face, with small, softly-marked, and delicately-formed features, somewhat resembling his own. The drawing of " St. Cecilia" (73), made by RAEFAELLE for Mane ANTONIO to engrave from, shows how much of the grace and expression of the originals is lost in
the engraving. The seraphic loveliness and rapt inspiration of St. Cecilia, and the mute adoring attention of the attendant saints, seems almost besand the power of art to express. Another of " The Ma- donna with the Fish," (77), is only a less remarkable instance of the same fact.
Among the designs for Scriptural subjects, painted in fresco in the Loggie of the Vatican, these of "Jacob's Dream" (85), "Joseph Telling his Dream" (86), " The Finding of Moses " (87), "Lot and his Daughters Departing from Sodom" (83)—which are familiar to us in the prints of RAFFAELLE'S Bible, as they are called—enable us to form some idea of the grandeur of the paintings, as well as of the wretched inferiority of the prints. There are several slight sketches of the Virgin and Holy Family (12, 34, 37, 48, 49), and of the Dead Christ and the Marys (17, 22, 23, 26), of exquisite beauty of compo- sition. We must not attempt to describe them. We cannot, however, pass by "The Pest" (47). A husband is kneeling over the dead body of his wife, covering bis mouth amid nostrils with one hand, and with the other averting the eager yearning face of their infant ; while is female with a backward glance of pain and horror is flying from the frightful scene. There are other episodes in this picture, which is a miniature model for the engraving, but the awful nature of the calamity is con- veyed in this affecting group. We reluctantly conclude this unsatisfactory mention of these won- derful works for space and words alike fail us. They must be seen and felt to lie appreciated ; and we can only hope to have succeeded in drawing the attention of our readers to them. There are in the room some engraved imitations of several of the sketches and copies in crayons of the "Transfiguration," the "Ma- donna del Seggiola," and other pictures, besides some coloured draw- ings of the compartments in the Loggie of the Vatican, showing the situation of the frescos in that superb structure.
Previous page
