Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino) - Succession - Madonna

Italian school of the first half of the 19th century. After RAFAEL SANZIO (Italy, 1483 - 1520). "The Holy Family of Francis I/The Large Holy Family". Oil on canvas. Measurements: 104 x 137 cm; 122 x 150 cm (frame). This work is a faithful continuation of the one painted by Raphael Sanzio in 1518, an oil on panel transferred to canvas now in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Raphael depicted in this canvas the Holy Family accompanied by St. John the Baptist as a child and his mother, St. Elizabeth. The placement of the different figures reflects the hierarchy of the characters in this iconography. Thus, we see St. Joseph behind almost hidden in the shadows, while the two women and the two children remain in the foreground, directly illuminated. These four figures form a typically Raphaelesque pyramidal scheme, much imitated by his followers, clearly classical, which anchors the composition and balances it. In addition, this scheme serves to focus attention on the two main characters: Jesus and Mary. Regarding the subject matter, the iconography that introduces the figure of St. John the Baptist in scenes of the Holy Family or Mary with the Child is not only due to the saint's condition as a relative of Jesus, but also has a theological meaning. These images present St. John the Baptist as a prophet who announces the redemptive mission of Christ, and that is why, despite the fact that he is represented as a child, before his retreat to the desert, he appears with the skin of a lamb or camel and, generally, accompanied by the usual iconographic attributes in his images, which allude to the Passion of Christ. However, unlike what happens in other paintings, both by Raphael and other authors, here the children appear oblivious to the dramatic fate of Jesus. Only the two women show a certain pain contained in their expressions that lets us guess the sorrow with which they contemplate the children's games.