- Went to the “Raphael: Sublime Poetry” at Met today. The exhibition started with his father and his masters work - you can see his years of pupil, and what led to his style and crafts.
- He used rulers and compasses as tools to design his composition - there are solid methodical approaches backing the mastery and genius of composition - a theme that recurs. You can see his precise measurement in his sketches. Impressive and maybe a bit demystifying that there are traces of engineering in perfection in beauty.
- However, rulers and compasses are just technique - but the balance and harmony are truly genius.
- very methodical - he would start with simple red chalks for sketches and build from there - but even simple sketches are captivating.
- Seeing his finished work reminds me seeing the first retina screens from Apple. It was meticulously complete.
- He was a very prolific painter. He started with a ferocious, ambitious, and extremely diligent study of the past masters, and later the raining orders from his patrons including the Popes. The sheer magnitude of his work was foundational of his impact. It was impressive to see how greatness unfolded and were practiced, and humbling to be reminded that diligence was the foundation of humankind’s finest.
- He seems to be a humble student from the greats of his time, adapting his work and practices with advices from Leo Da Vinci and studies from Michelangelo (who were more direct rivalry of Raphael).
- The surging projects from the Palace and the Pope - albeit led to the bankruptcy of the papacy of Leo X eventually - may signal the splurging activity and power of the renaissance age.
- His success, and managing to replace an earlier generation of painters at the Vatican palace involved his artistic virtuosity, but his personal charisma, savvy, and political support from his friends from Urbivo played a key role in earning the keen of the Pope. Raphael himself never shies away from getting in with the culture - in his sketches you can see lines of sonnet reflecting his attempts to rhyme with the poetry making culture of the court at that time.
- Renaissance artists were supported by patrons - thus their ability to serve different clientele is crucial. Raphael’s style and emphasis changed from Julius II to Leo X - partly because of the different preferences of the clients.
- Reputation and impacts are an results of timing, culture, personal dedication and interpersonal impact (天时地利人和.） It’s hard to say that without the scale and popularity of Raphael and his studio among his contemporaries, or without the demands and cultural support of his clients, he would have so many prolific work and thus be this impactful. He had indeed succeeded in scaling his work.
- Key to his success of the scale, with some degree of controversy, was the partnerships with his fellow artist and pupils. He may design the composition, and leave the work to his studio and teams to complete, often leading to controversy of ownership. A modern enterprise.