Illustriously deemed "Prince of Painters, Raphael is one of the most famous Madonna painters. He painted so many that his biography as a painter can be retraced and illustrated thanks to those outstanding artistic representations of Our Lady.

Raphael Santi was born in Urbino/Umbria on April 6, 1483. The boy was taught by his father Giovanni Santi, an honest painter. Raphael was eleven when his father died. At age sixteen he left for Perugia. He was admitted into the school of Il Perugino, his true teacher and master. At nineteen Raphael was still a timid, somewhat mystically inclined young painter of provincial origin and habits. His first Madonnas were young, with pouting mouth, round face and veiled head. The posture was traditional and rigid, the form at times fuzzy. Already his exceptional qualities of simplicity, grace and harmony in color and composition could be noted.

The Solly Madonna
One of his first, the Solly Madonna is a very young Madonna, almost childlike, reading from a book. The face has not yet the oval shape of Florentine Madonnas. The painting exudes a certain austerity and simplicity. He emulated his master Il Perugino but already his own genius transpired.

La Madonna Solly
Painted in about 1500 by Raphael

The Connestabile Madonna
The Connestabile Madonna, considered to be one of the greatest gems of miniature paintings, was painted for Alfonso di Diamenti, a friend of Raphael's. The Virgin stands in open air reading, while the child touches and looks into the same book. Mary is dressed in traditional marian colors: red tunic and blue mantle with hood over her head. The child's playfulness reflects ease and security in his mother's arms. The pretty landscape in the background suggests the passage from winter to spring.

The painting was sold by Count Scipione Connestabile to the Empress of Russia in 1871.

The Connestabile Madonna
Painted in 1502-03 by Raphael
The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

Madonna and Child with Book
In Madonna and Child with Book, the serenely balanced figures are described simply and naturally. Mary gazes lovingly at the Christ Child, cradled in her lap, who in turn looks up at her with trust and admiration. Her protective arm around him and her gentle offer of the prayer book provide reassurance and security. The book, framed by Mary and the Child's hands, occupies the center of the composition. Raphael renders the manuscript clearly and legibly. The page is open to the Nones or the 9th hour of Canonical Offices, the hour for meditation on Christ's crucifixion and death. Even at this tender moment of his infancy, Christ's future is clear.

Madonna and Child with Book
Painted 1502-03 by Raphael

The Madonna del Gran'Duca is the first picture painted in Florence. Raphael went there in 1504. The Madonna of the Gran'Duca is one of the most beautiful.

La Madonna del Gran'Duca 
Painted 1504-05 by Raphael

The Virgin's features are calm and serene but radiant and almost translucent, contrasting with the chubby earthiness of the infant Jesus. "Although slightly and very simply painted, especially in the nude parts, this picture excels all Raphael's previous Madonnas in the charm of a profound feeling" (Kugler). Some authors see in the Gran'Duca Madonna a resemblance (and influence) of da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" ... smiling less mysteriously!

The name does not refer to the person who commissioned this Madonna but who owned it at one time. It is said to have belonged to Carlo Dolici (1616-1686) before it eventually came into the possession of Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Habsburg in 1799. The painting became his faithful companion; he carried it with him wherever he went. This is the reason why the picture is also called "Madonna del Viaggio" (of the journey).

La Madonna del Gran'Duca is in the Pitti Gallery in Florence.



The Cowper Madonna
The Virgin is seated in an open air setting; her posture and countenance are less aristocratic than those of the Gran'Duca Madonna.

Madonna of Cowper
Painted 1505 by Raphael

She holds the naked Child with her left hand; he rests one foot on his mother's right hand, and places his arms around her neck. There is a touch of sadness in both mother and child. In the distance is a church with a dome and campanile. The execution is simple and easy, and da Vinci's influence is detectable in the drawing of the hands.

This Madonna painting of 1505 was purchased by Lord Cowper around 1870 when he was British Ambassador to Florence. A copy exists in the Lombardi collection in Florence.



Madonna di Terranuova
Also called "Madonna coi bambini" (with the children) this painting was originally in the possession of the Duke of Terranuova.

Madonna di Terranuova
Painted 1505 by Raphael

The Virgin is represented seated in a rocky landscape with the child in her lap, who together with the Baptist, is holding a scroll. A third child is leaning on the Virgin's knee, gazing at the infant savior. The boy is probably intended to represent James the Less.

Art historians see in this Madonna the influence of Michelangelo's Madonna now in the Uffizi. The contrast between Mary and the background landscape is a masterpiece of pictorial arrangement.

It was purchased in 1854 by Frederick William IV of Prussia and is now in the Berlin Staatsmuseum.

Madonna di Foligno
Painted in Rome in 1512, this painting was ordered by Sigismondo Conti of Foligno who was private secretary to Pope Julius II and who had the painting placed on the high altar of the Franciscan church in Ara Coeli, Rome. It was to be a votive offering to Mary for her protection against lightning or the fall of a meteor.

Madonna di Foligno
Painted 1512 by Raphael

The Madonna holding the Child is seated upon the clouds above the distant city of Foligno. She is surrounded by angels. Below her we have two groups of the saints: on the left St. John the Baptist and St. Francis, on the right St. Jerome and Sigismond Conti, the donor. St. Sigismond is the patron saint of the donor and also the saint to whom the Jeronimite convent near Cremona was dedicated. St. Jerome begs the protection of the Virgin for the donor, who kneels in front of him. Between the two groups stands a little cherub holding in his hands a tablet. According to art experts, this painting is particularly remarkable for "the deeper golden tint which was never apparent" in Raphael's earlier works.



Madonna della Sedia
This painting is named after the chair (sedia) in which the Madonna is sitting. Painted between 1510 and 1514, it is of Raphael's own hand - undisputedly.

Madonna della Sedia
Painted 1514 by Raphael

Considered by many the most popular and most widely disseminated of all Raphael madonnas, it was probably painted for Pope Leo X or one of the Medici.

The Virgin holds the Infant on her lap, the glances of both mother and child are directed to an undetermined group of onlookers. St. John, as is often the case in Raphael's Madonna paintings, stands in adoration to the right of Jesus and Mary.

A pretty legend is attached to this painting which tells the story of a hermit, the beautiful daughter of a wine-dresser and Raphael:
"Centuries ago, there dwelt among the Italian hills near Rome a venerable hermit, whom the people called Father Bernardo. During a terrible storm his life was saved by Mary, the beautiful daughter of a wine-dresser, and by an old oak-tree in whose branches he had taken refuge; so he prayed to God to distinguish them in some way. Years passed away, the hermit died, and the oak-tree was converted into casks for Mary's father. One day Mary was sitting by one of these casks playing with her children, the elder of whom ran towards her with a stick made into the shape of a cross. Raphael had long been seeking a model for a picture of the Virgin and Child; just then he passed by, and seeing the group, stopped and drew them on the smooth cover of the wine cask. This he took away with him, and on it painted the Madonna della Sedia. Thus was the blessing and desire of the old hermit realized, and Mary and the oak were distinguished for all time." [Mrs. Clement, "Christian Symbols and Stories of the Saints," pp. 213-4.]



Madonna di San Sisto
Better known under the name of "Sistine Madonna", it is the last Madonna painting painted by Raphael (1519). It was painted for the monastery of San Sisto in Piacenza, whence its name. Purchased by Augustus II of Saxony (1753), it was "abducted" by Napolean but returned soon after and restored in 1827. It is now in the Dresden Gallery.

Madonna di San Sisto
Painted 1519 by Raphael

Mary with Child stands on a globe partially covered by clouds, her veil billowing in an imaginary draft coming from the left side of the painting. Draperies left and right of Mary give the impression of a theatrical setting. Mother and Child are framed in contrasting fashion by the older St. Sixtus (he bears the traits of Julius II, whereas the Virgin resembles the famous Fornarina) and Saint Barbara in the splendor of youth. Mary's expression is one of lofty dignity. Her eyes - like those of her son - reflect according to one commentator "an eternity of unutterable fondness." Legend says that the two little angels were in fact two little boys who climbed up the window of Raphaels's studio and there intently gazed at the artist while he painted.