The Cardinal Raphael (1483-1520)

Description of Raphael Santi’s Portrait of the Cardinal

Raphael is an acknowledged master of portrait painting. True, he was no less good at genre scenes than he was at portraits. Still, his portraits are admirable.

This is perhaps one of his finest works. It is a portrait of a cardinal. A portrait not yet of an old clergyman.

A face that reeks of serenity and confidence in his faith. But there’s something else in his face - the power. It flashes in his eyes, in his confident posture, in his slightly compressed lips. This man knows for sure that every word he speaks is a law that cannot be crossed, not only by a monk, but also by an ordinary citizen. On the canvas, the Cardinal is calm, but who knows what he was like in life?

Raphael created this canvas on commission and apparently pleased the cardinal, because for a long time it was kept in his chambers. And if he did, then the artist portrayed him exactly as he should. So he didn’t lie.

Raphael during his lifetime was recognized as a very talented painter and architect. He erected several buildings in Rome and managed to write a few dozen paintings. The master died too early, very young by the standards of that time. And by our standards, too.

They say that his lecherous behavior accelerated his departure. At any rate, this is what Vasari claims. But many Renaissance cultural historians do not agree with this statement and tend to believe that the painter died of Roman fever. But even when he left us, he left a brilliant memory of himself.

His "Madonnas" alone are worthwhile, or just remember one - the "Sistine Madonna". This would probably be enough to make him remembered for centuries. By the way, Raphael was buried in the Pantheon, the most incredible building in Rome, to which he also had his hand and his genius.