honourable reward for it from the king.[1] This master also painted the portrait of Beatrice of Ferrara,[2] with those of other ladies; that of his own inamorata is more particularly to be specified, but he also executed many others.[3] He was much disposed to the gentler affections and delighted in the society of woman, for whom he was ever ready to perform acts of service. But he also permitted himself to be devoted somewhat too earnestly to the pleasures of life, and in this respect was perhaps more than duly considered and indulged by his friends and admirers. We find it related that his intimate friend Agostino Chigi had commissioned him to paint the first floor of his palace,[4] but Raphael was at that time so much occupied with the love which he bore to the lady of his choice, that he could not give sufficient attention to the work. Agostino therefore, falling at length into despair of seeing it finished, made so many efforts by means of friends and by his own care, that after much difficulty he at length prevailed on the lady to take up her abode in his house, where she was accordingly installed in apartments near those which Raphael was painting; in this manner the work was ultimately brought to a conclusion.[5]
For these pictures Raphael prepared all the cartoons, painting many of the figures also with his own hand in fresco.[6] On the ceiling he represented the council of the Gods in heaven, and in the forms of these deities many of the outlines and lineaments may be perceived to be from the antique, as are various portions of the draperies and vestments, the
- ↑ Now in the Louvre. Engraved by Edelinck and others.
- ↑ Passavant is of opinion that the well-known picture in the Tribune of the Uffizj, hitherto called the Fornarina, is the portrait of Beatrice of Ferrara, who was not, as he further informs us, a royal personage, but may rather be conjectured to have been an improvisatrice.
- ↑ Among these portraits was that of the celebrated beauty, Joanna of Aragon, now also in the Louvre, and engraved by Morghen. Respecting these and other female portraits by Raphael, see Passavant, ut supra.
- ↑ That on the Lungara namely, now called the Farnesina, and which has for many years been the property of the king of Naples.
- ↑ Longhena, Storia, &c., will not admit the truth of this anecdote, which is denied by Passavant also. For details respecting the paintings see the last named writer, with Pungileoni, Elogio Storico. See also Fea, Notizie, &c.
- ↑ According to the best authonties but little of these works was executed by Raphael himself. See Passavant. See also Rumohr, Longhena, and Pungileoni.
