Thirteen bays of four small frescoes each telling the Old Testament stories from the Creation to the building of the Temple, and four of the life of Christ.
Raphael
Her legends are confusing, but make no significant mention of music. So how did she become patron saint of music and musicians?
The painting that made Saint Cecilia the patron saint of music, a vision of Ezekiel, Pope Leo X, and a woman who could be a courtesan or the artist’s partner.
An architect, a sculptor and painter, and a young painter. Add a Pope who wants to be remembered, and this is what happens.
A commission for ten cartoons from which tapestries were to be made. These were to be hung along the walls of the chapel, telling the lives of Sts Peter and Paul.
Eight large frescoes in a style which assimilated what Raphael saw in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, and an arch of sibyls.
Paintings aren’t made in an artistic vacuum. Part of the purpose is to please a patron, donor or dealer. Examples from Leonardo, Raphael, Tintoretto.
Superb portraits of a cardinal and the Pope, and several of his finest Madonnas, including one claimed by many to be the greatest painting in the world.
From Botticelli’s map of Dante’s ‘Inferno’ to Vermeer’s fine-detailed depictions of decorative wall hangings.
Three stunning frescoes in a whole room with painted walls and ceiling: the Disputa, School of Athens, and Parnassus. Perfection.
