When he was fiftynine years of age he was charged to paint the
Birth of our Lady in S. Francesco in Sienna, and the friars there
gave him a room to dwell in, which at his desire they emptied of
everything except a great chest, which seemed to them too big to
move. But Pinturicchio, being a strange, fanciful man, made so much
disturbance about it that the friars at last set to work to carry it
away, and in moving it a plank gave way, and discovered five hundred
ducats of gold. Pinturicchio, however, was so much vexed at the
friars' good fortune that, not being able to forget it, he fell sick
and died.
His great schoolfellow, Raffaello, one of those possessed of such
rare gifts that it is imposs~ble to call them simply men, but
rather, if it is allowable so to speak, mortal gods, was born in the
famous city of Urbino in Italy, in the year 1483, on Good Friday, at
three o'clock of the night. He was the son of Giovanni de' Santi, a
painter but not a very excellent one, a man of good understanding,
and capable of directing his son in that good way which
unfortunately had not been shown to himself in his youth. And
because Giovanni knew of what consequence it was that the child
should be nursed by his own mother and not left to the care of a
hired nurse, he kept him in his own house that he might learn good
ways, rather than the rough customs of common men. And as soon as he
was grown, he began to teach him painting, so that it was not long
before he was able to help his father in many of his works. But at
last the good father, knowing that his son could learn little from
him, determined to put him with Pietro Perugino, and going to
Perugia, told him his desire. And Pietro, who was very courteous,
and a lover of men of talent, accepted Raffaello. Therefore
Giovanni, returning joyfully to Urbino, took the boy, not without
many tears, from his mother, who tenderly loved him, and brought him
to Perugia. And when Pietro saw his manner of drawing and his
pleasant ways, he pronounced that judgment upon him which time has
proved most tru~. It is a very remarkable thing that while Raffaello
was studying under Pietro he imitated him so closely that it is
impossible to distinguish their works.
When Pinturicchio was entrusted with the painting of the library
of Sienna, Raffaello accompanied him thither; but while they were
there, some painters spoke to him of the cartoons of Lionardo da
Vinci and Michael Angelo at Florence, praising them so much that the
desire came upon him to see them, and he set out for Florence. He
was no less pleased with the city than with the works he came to
see, and he determined to tarry there some time, making friends with
many young painters. And after he had been to Florence his manner
changed greatly, for while there he studied the old works of
Masaccio and the labours of Lionardo and Michael Angelo, and he was
in close intercourse with Fra Bartolommeo di S. Marco, whose colour
pleasing him much, he sought to imitate it, while in return he
taught the good father perspective.
Then Bramante da Urbino, who was in the service of Julius II,
being distantly related to Raffaello and of the same district, wrote
to him that he had been using his influence with the Pope to obtain
for him leave to display his powers in certain rooms of the palace.
The tidings pleased Raffaello, and leaving his works at Florence
unfinished, he departed for Rome, where he found that many of the
chambers of the palace had been already painted, or were being
painted, by other masters. Being received with much kindness by Pope
Julius, he began in the chamber of the Segnatura, and painted a
picture of the reconciliation between Philosophy and Astrology, and
Theology. He enriched this work with many figures, and finished it
in so delicate and sweet a manner that Pope Julius caused all the
pictures of the other masters, both ancient and modern, to be
destroyed that Raffaello might have all the work of the chambers. So
Raffaello painted the ceiling of this chamber with the figures of
Knowledge, Poetry, Theology, and Justice, and on the walls
represented Parnassus with the Poets, and Heaven with the Saints and
Doctors of the Church, and Justinian giving the laws to the Doctors,
and Pope Julius the canon laws. And the Pope, being satisfied with
the work, gave him the second chamber to paint.
Kaffaello had now acquired a great name, having moreover gentle
manners admired by all; but though he studied continually the
antiquities in the city, he had not yet given to any of his figures
that grandeur and majesty which appeared in his later works. It
happened at this time that Michael Angelo, having that difference
with the Pope of which we shall speak in his life, had fled to
Florence, and Bramante, having the key of the SiSline Chapel, showed
it to Raffaello his friend, that he might learn Michael Angelo's
methods. And this was the cause of his repainting the prophet
Isaiah, which he had already finished in the church of S. Agostino,
greatly improving and elevating his manner in this work, and giving
it more majesty.
Not long after, Agostino Chigi, a very rich merchant of Sienna,
entrusted him with the painting of a chapel, Raffaello having before
painted for him in the loggia of his palace a picture of Galatea. So
Raffaello, having made the cartoon for the chapel which is in the
church of S. Maria della Pace, carried it out in fresco in his new
and grander manner, painting there some of the Prophets and Sibyls;
and this work is the best and most excellent that he produced in his
life.
Continuing then his work in the chambers of the Vatican, he
painted the Miracle of the Mass of Bolsena and S. Peter in prison,
with the punishment of Heliodorus, and on the ceiling pictures from
the Old Testament. But at this time Pope Julius died, who had ever
been an encourager of talent. Nevertheless Leo X, being created
pope, desired the work to continue, so Raffaello painted the coming
of Attila to Rome, and Pope Leo III going out to meet him.
Meanwhile Raffaello painted many other pictures, and his fame
grew great, and reached to France and Flanders, and Albert Durer,
the great German painter and engraver, sent to Raffaello a tribute
of his own works, a portrait of himself painted in watercolour on
very fine linen, so that it showed equally on both sides. And
Raffaello, marvelling at it, sent to him many drawings from his own
hand, which were much prized by Albert. The goldsmith Francesco
Francia of Bologna also heard of him, and desired greatly to see
him. For while he was enjoying in peace the glory he had earned by
his labours in Bologna, many gentlemen of that city going to Rome
went to see Raffaello and his works. And as men usually like to
praise to others those of their own house who have talent, so these
Bolognese began to talk to Raffaello in praise of Francia's works,
and his life and virtues; and thus between them there sprang up a
kind of friendship, and Francia and Raffaello saluted each other by
letter. Francia, hearing of the fame of the divine works of
Raffaello, desired much to see them, but being already old was loth
to leave his Bologna. Then it happened that Raffaello painted a
picture of S. Cecilia, which was to be sent to Bologna and placed in
a chapel in S. Giovanni in Monte, and having packed it, he directed
it to Francia as his friend that he might set it up in the chapel.
At which Francia was very glad, having so long desired to see one of
Raffaello's works. And having opened Raffaello's letter (in which he
prayed him, if he found it scratched, to mend it, and also, if he
saw any error, like a true friend, to correct it), with great
delight he drew the picture out of the case and put it in a good
light. But so great was his astonishment at what he saw that,
recognising his foolish presumption, he fell sick of grief, and in a
short time died. The picture of Raffaello was indeed divine, not a
painted thing but living; and Francia, half dead with the shock, and
altogether disheartened by the extreme beauty of the picture
compared with those which he saw around him done by his own hand,
had it placed carefully in the chapel where it was to be, and then
in a few days took to his bed, feeling that in art he was nothing
compared to whot he had thought himself to be and was reputed
by others, and thus died of grief and melancholy. However, some
people say that his death was so sudden that it was more like poison
or apoplexy.
