Raphael’s La Belle Jardinière
Completed in 1508 in Florence, La Belle Jardinière is one of the most famous Madonna portraits of
Italian Renaissance painter Raphael. Raphael studied the works of Leonardo da Vinci while in
Florence and applied some of Leonardo’s techniques to his own painting. Raphael’s use of
contrasting lights and darks, and the relaxed, informal pose of the Madonna illustrate Leonardo’s
influence on La Belle Jardinière
Red Chalk Drawing by Raphael
This drawing of a woman’s head is by the early 16th-century Italian Renaissance artist Raphael.
Red chalk, the medium used for this drawing, was popular with Renaissance artists, whose
drawings were generally studies for future paintings
Sketch for the Deposition Raphael’s sketch (or cartoon) for a painting of the entombment of Christ demontrates his mastery both of the human figure and of composition.
Leo I and Attila
This fresco by Italian Renaissance painter Raphael, Leo I Repulsing Attila (1512-1514, Vatican),
depicts the confrontation between Pope Leo I and Attila the Hun outside Rome in the 5th century.
Whereas the figures on the left exemplify the classical poise typical of the High Renaissance, the
tumultuous activity of the figures on the right prefigures the dynamic energy of the later baroque
style.
Raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the Classical past with the features of his
Renaissance contemporaries. The School of Athens (above) is perhaps the most extended study in
this.