Fqs,reHAffiL&rum s$m$\A &,u zocs] On theoccasion of theopenlng of theBaphael exhibition at theNatlonal Gallery, Lonoon, -i: :t:,t:i;':,*'t':: i. one of ts curatorsexamines the evidencefor a negected aspect of the artist career,his connections with Siena, and in particularMonteoliveto Maggiore
Enea Silvio Crowned Poet It is twenty year:ssince the illustratedas Fig. 1) were cornmissioned Raphaelalso provided drawings Laureate by Frederick til by quincentennaryof Raphaclt birth was in June 1502 by CardinalFrancesco anotherwork of Pir-rtoricchio'sin the Pintoricchio (c. 1454-1 513), c. 1 503- 1504. Fresco, celebratedwith a seriesof exhibitions Piccolomini,archbishop of Sienaancl sarneperiod (the Coronationctf the Piccolomini Library Duomo, and conferences.A greatdeal of new (briefly)Pope Pius ur.+ According to Virgin, now in the PinacotecaVaticar Siena. Photo: Bridgeman An researchwas publishedthen, and more Vasari, Pintoricchio brougl-rtthe young and originally paintedfor Frarta Library 'where hasbeen edded irr recent yeers - in Santito Siena Raphaelmade for Perugirra,nr,r.lern day Umhertidc. Four standing soldiers by particularthe posthr-rmouspublicatiotr of him somedrawings and somecartoor-rs' 1502-1-503),and he may havebeen Raphael (1483-1 520), c. I 503. John SI'rearman'smagisrerial collection for the PiccolominiLibrrry. involved in a tl'rirdcollaboration: a lc Metalpoint on prepared paper, of docun-rentsrelating 21 -3 x 22.3 cm. Ashmolean to Raphael'slife At leastfive drawingsby him can be altzrrpiecefor Filippo Sergardi'schapr Museum, Oxford and work.' Therehas not, however,been relatedto this project:a sketchancl a in thc church of S Francesco,Siena. Ir any very significantattempt to synthesise worked-up modello for The jcturney of the very early nineteenthcerrrurp this n-raterialinto a new account Th s article has benefitted lrom the of the Enea SiluioPiccoktmini to Basle(boi't various sourcesrefer to Raphaelhavi generosity of John Shearman, to Raphael'scareer, and the forthcoming Uffizi, Florence); a modello lor rhe pairrtedthe preclellaof an altarpiecet whose memory t is ded cated, and exhibition Ph ppa Jackson. am gratefu to at the Nati
Raphael and Siena executeclonto a separatcpiece of papel, St Benedict welcoming which hasbeen glued to theprincipal Maurus and Placidus into the Bened icti ne ord er attributed folio. The drawing has beensquarcd in to Raphael 0 483-1520), blackchalk; eaclr square measures 2.2 c. 1502-1 503. Pen and ink cm and the grid that they establishis 1.5 and wash over black chalk on paper, 36.8 x 41.3 cm. and 18 squareswide. squarestall Private collection, New York \ilhen the drawing was sold at Christie'sin l.oncft>nin 1988 its subject St Benedict welcoming Maurus and Placidus into the was identifieclas the encolrnter:of Pir-rs "tl;': Benedictine ordet by ll :;i' tt with the Antipopc Felix,ancl relatcd Sodoma (1477-1 549), :1. 'u' ; to Pintoricchio'sfrcscoes ir-r the c.1505-1506.Fresco. .:. tt, Ee' l. ;. Monteoliveto Maggiore. Piccolomir-riLibrary in Siena."ln fact &M 1i Photo: O 2004, Scala, the drawingcertainly rcpresents S/ Florence, by courtesy of the ' u ' Benedictwelcoming Maunrs and Ministero Beni e Att. Culturali "s'r* Placidttsittto the Benedictirrccn'der," )ft"!{ , li. ;:t he himsel severa reated J ..-/'; and it is strikir.rglysimilar to Sodoma's thal owned sketches by Raphael. , ,.,'' (Fig. , ,t{'i versionof this relativelyrare scene P Joann des. The Dt€twilgs af 4) in the greatcloister of tl-remother Raphael vltth a Catnplete Catalague, Los Angeles and Oxford, 1983 ros. "'L .-,'].. houseof the Olivetansat Monteoliveto 56 6T. These drawingshave Maggiore,near Siena.'' sonret mes been attrbuted to P ntorlcch o, but Rapliaels althorsh p This cloister is painteclwith thirt,v is attested to by tfre presence ol hs handwrt fg on two ol lhem (seeJ six scenesfrom thc life of St Beneclict. Shearman, Faphaei in Ealy Ma.Jen contemporaryrvith thc ea-rrlystages of New York (havingpreviously been on Luca Signorellistarted the decorative Saurces 1483 7602 Neu/ Haven anc London,2003, pp. 75 77)aswel as the decorationof thc Piccolon'rini loan to the FoggArt Museumsztt schcmewith nine lunetteson the west by styl st c afays s pa Librar,v. Harvard). Although weak, and siJcof rhesloi:ter. Hi' :rctivityc.tn PLntorccho was d for thrs " alarpiece. v/h ch s nou/ in the Muse darnaged,the drawinghas been probablybe datecl c.1498-99, Vatcan loberhuber.op clt. lrg 121 | June 1503 (wth tna paymentsn .\ I l,r rtlr ;i ili:i1 :..i:r gll{}i'l' convincinglyattributed to Raphaelby althoughKanter d:rteshis last frescoes 1505 seeAfch/vio storica dell atle, ln rvhat follows I do not ir-rtendto Oberhuber,.foannidesand others;and, thereto a secondcan'rpaign in c. 1-502- 1890.pp.465 66) Seenowtheiew tJ7hether returnedto d scoveres of P Scarpel n and t\,4B. discussthe evidenccfor Raphael's having str-rdieclit in New Y 52 Raphael and Siena How St Benedict recognised The similarities betweenthe principal and received the true Totila by figures (St Benedict,Maurus and Luca Signorelli (c. 1450-1 523), c. 1498-99. Fresco, Placidus)establish the subjectof the Monteoliveto Maggiore, drawing, but it is in the populous Photo: O 2004, Scala, entourageof horsemenand nobles that Florence, by courtesy of the the imagesare most similar. It is also Ministero Beni e Att. Culturali notablethat the areaoccupied by Standing man after Raphael figures at Monteoliveto is similarly (1483-1 520), before 1 509 (?). proportioned to the equivalent area on Pen and ink on paper,22-8 x 16.7 cm. Accademia, Venice the drawing (with its grid 15 by 18 squares),and that the drawing also Heads after Raphael 0 483- '1 suggestssome centralisingelement in 520), before | 509 (?). Pen and ink on papet 22.8 x 16.7 the background.'t There is, however, cm. Accademia, Venice no indication on the drawing of a curved field. How St Benedict discovered the fiction of Totila by Luca Since one can exclude the Signorelli (c. 1450-1523), possibility that Raphaelactually c.1498-99. Fresco, paintedanything that survivesat Monteoliveto Maggiore, O 2004. Photo: Scala, Monteoliveto, two possibilitiesremain: Florence, by courtesy of the that he provided drawings to Sodoma Ministero Beni e Att. Culturali (therebycollaborating with the Sienese artist before they both arrived in the Vatican),toor that Raphaelwas also frescoesat l\,4onteolivetohas also ben discussedby G. Shepherd, consideredas a replacementfor A Monumentto Pope Piust: Signorelli when it becameclear that the Pintorichioand Raphaelin the PbcolaminiLibraryin Siffia 1494- Cortoneseartist was not going to 7508,doctoral thesis, Haryard completehis work at Monteoliveto. Unlversity,Cambndge MA, 1993, and alsoby W Andersen,A Wondedul Collaboration(or directcompetition in EarlyDrawlng by Raphrel , Drawing, 1505) can probably be ruled vo.ru, no.3, 1994,pp. 49-52. The out on the currentowners ofthe drawinghave grounds that the drawing's style cannot alsoproduced a bookletand cD-Rom, wirichreproduce correspondence be reconciledwith the dating of the fromvarious scholars. frescoto late 1505/1505. Insteadthe SeeT Henryand L.B. Kanler,Luca Sjgnoreli:The Complete Paintings , style of the drawing suggestsa date c. London,2002, pp. 39-45,12432. 1502-1503,and we must consider ForSodomas first appearance in the accountsat lvlonteolivetoon 5 August whether there is any evidencethat 1505 see Siena, Archivo dl Stato, Raphaelmight have submitted a trial Fondodi lvlonteoliveto,Conventi, n. 321, Librod amministruione,fatnely drawing to the Olivetans at this date, lP fol.46v, published by S. Borghesi andL. Banchi,Nuovi documffiti ptr in the hope of obtaining the jla stariadell arte sqffi, Siena, commissionto completethe cycle. 1898,p.368. L.B. Kante[ TheLate Worksof Luca Unfortunately, although Sodoma's Signoreliffid hisFalbwere 7498- frescoesare reasonablywell 7559,unpublished doctoral thesis, NewYork University, 1989, pp. 99, documented,the precedingperiod is 104. Fromthe Uscfe of the Abbeywe not; and there is no evidencethat learnthat Sodoma was paid1 0 iorins (70rie) for hisfirst scene, and 7 florins Raphaelwas askedto supply a (49 ,;e) for each of the rest./b/iJ. , fols. drawing for the Olivetans. Nor is there 92[ 106Fv (Borghesi md Banch],op. cit.,pp. 374, 380). any allusion to such an eventin the 17 Vasari,op. cit.,vol. r, pp. 636-37,vo. v, pp. 382-83. chronicleof the abbey'shistory IFr Dominci de LeccolSecunda (although it is probably unreasonable namqueabbatialum su electione claustrimagni intercoumnia in dextera to expect that there should be such a ingressusmonmteril parte posita, reference and the drawing alone is quaeoccidentalem respic unt plagam, eo auctore,mira et arteet impensaa evidenceof designingan Olivetan or celeberimlspictoribus depincta fuere, Benedictinesubject). et reliquaclaustr lntercolumnia simili opereexornasset; nisi pictorum There is, however,some visual ntressitatusobstitisset discessus. aliquantade temporisinter€pedine evidencethat Raphaelvisited et pecuniarumcomoditate extiterunt. Monteoliveto c. 1.502-L504,and this lncoeptum(ut sapientis est) tandem opus compleredecrevit. Et orientalem could have beenin connectionwith the meridionalemqueclaustf pariem et si Olivetans' desireto completethe divereopictore, haud tamen inferiore picturadtroravit. decoration of their cloister.tl [(FraDomenico da Lecce)Following Derivations from Signorelli's frescoesat thesecond elmtion of hisabbacy (1497- 1 50 1 ) the spacesbehven the Monteoliveto can be found in the Raphaeland Siena 5 I ttl rl father'sdeath, she appearsto have ' ^l nn. ^f th6 ^'^it.l^cfor inherited a major portion of Andrea post oned on the rlght-hand s de of the entrance to the monastery wh ch Piccolomini'sinheritance, and was ook West, were painted at h s entrustedto the care of her mother. In lnstigaton with remarkableskll and expense by very famous adsts. and 1538she was married ro Inigo the rema n ng spaaes between the co umns would have been decorated d'Alfonso Piccolomini d'Aragona, and with sim ar work, fthe unavoidabe it was as a result of this marriage that departure ofthe artsts had not prevented - it. after an nteryal of time shepacked her trunks for Arnalfi and wth the beneft of funds which which was ruled by the Piccolomini had appeared flna y h-^decreed that the work which had been stafted d'Aragona family between1461 and shoud be compeled (as is 1583- in 1542. characteristc of a wse man). And he decoraled the East and South sdes ol The picture that then belongedto the cloister,and il this was wth a differ-antpalnter, yet it was wth no Silvia Piccolomini and was shippedto nferorpa ntng. I Archivode Abbaa Amalfi on 15 February1542 was di N,4onteolivetoN,4agglorc, Chranican 'Il Cancellarlae,A, lol. 45v (pubished by describedas: tondo bellodi casa, G.M].Thomas, LAbbaye de Mort- con la Madonna, il Signorepiccolo che O/ivet-Maleur, Slena, I BBI , p. 201, new transcripton). dorme e Santo Giovanni, opera di Sodomas fresco is 2BOam w de. Raffaello di Urbino che E aprezatopii There s no evidence that it was translerred from a squared drawng, di dugento scudi' [The beautiful although this cannot be ru ed out. domestictondo with the Virgin (Mary), Forthe adsts collaboraton in the Vatican, see R. Baftaini, Sodoma the the baby Jesuswho sleepsand St John, Ch g and the Vatcan Slarze The Bulingtan Magaine,vol. cxL r. no. the work of Raphaelof Urbino, valued 1182 (September200l) pp 544-53. at morerhan rwo-hundred ducatsl. For the possiblity that Baphael and Sgnorelli met n these years, and for The descriptionoI Lhecompositiorr carr evdence that they both worked on a he relaredto onlyone surviving picture single piece of papel now in the Ashmoean (no. P | 523), see T. Henry by Raphael- the Madonna of the Sgnore . Raphae and a mysterous YeniceLibretto, which is widely held term as abbot-generalof the order diadem in the Louvre - but this prckeddrawng n Oxjord lhe Bufingtan Maguine,vol. cw, 10Bo to derive from copy drawings made by (Apr1|1.497-May 1501) - was elected painting is rectangular,and no circular (SeptemberT 993). pp. 612'19 For Venice Raphaelbefore 1509." A figureseen to servea third term in only April versionsof it are known. There is the Libretlo see S. Ferno Pagden, Gallile dellAccademia di from behind (fol. 9v; Fig. 6) is related 1.505,and rharSodoma's commission evidence,however, that the Piccolomir-ri Venezia:Disegni Umbri, N,4ian1984. lt conta ns other evidence of Raphaels to Signorelli'sHow St Benedict could not have beenconceived before picture can be identified with a nterestn Sgnorell. ncudng copes recognisedand receiued the true Totila this date. By that point Sodomacould compositionnow known rhrough after a Massacre otfhe lnnocffits, further discussed n T. Henry S/grore/f (Fig. 5); and on another folio a group point to an Olivetan track-record at the copies- the so-calledMadonna del in British Callqtians, exh. cat of heads(fol. 4v; Fig. 7) alsoappears to nearby community of Sant'Anna in Silenzio(Fig. 9)." Natona Ga ery London,1998-99, no. 21, p. 25. FerinoPagden has be basedon Signorelli'sfigures in the Camprena( 1503-1504), and Raphael's This con-rpositionwas very famous suggested that Domenico Afan was two Totila scenesat Monteoliveto involvementwould have beenharder in previouscenturies but has not been the author of the Venice Librefto. K.T. Parke\ Catalague of the (Figs.5 and 8). A metalpointstudy by to explain.toBut there is no reasonwhy illustrated in the Raphaelmonographs Collection af Drawings in Lae Ashmalean Musum, Axford 1956, Raphaelin the Ashmolean Museum in Airoldi's predecessorshould not have of the twentieth century.Although vol. , pp. 259 61, no. P 510 Oxford (Fig. 2), generallydated wanted to seethe cloister completed, some scholarshave resistedthe idea 24 For Sodomas contract of 10 July I 503 (Forence. Archivo di Stato, Patr c. 1503 and preparatory to a group of and we should perhapsconsider that an original by Raphaelever Eccl.,Pienza, A. cccx.. . 461, lo 18 soldiersin Pintoricchio'sfresco in the whether the plans for Sant'Anna in eristed, the sophisticationof the poseis bis) see P Lugano, ll Sodomae i suo atfreschia Sant Anna ln Camprena Piccolomini Library of Enea Siluio Camprenamight somehow have cut entirely characteristicof a work by presso P enza , Bul/ettno Senese dl crowned Poet Laureate by Frederickttt acrossan earlier recommencementof Raphaelofc. l506-l508. The stylistic Staria Patria,vo. tx. , 1902, pp. 241 42. Fina payment was receivedon 25 is also highly reminiscentof Signorelli's the cloister frescoesat Monteoliveto. In traits reflectedin the known copiesalso June 1504 Seeaso E. Car, // frescoesat Monteoliveto (againto the that casethe competition/collaboration Sodoma a Sant Anna in Camprena, support this dating, and the original Florence,1974, pp. I T1. Totiia scenes,Figs.5 and 8)." And, argumentswhich are discussedabove - was arguably the first tondo in which Excerpts from tfr s nvento0/ (whch s apparentyin the Napes, Archvo d taken together,the cumulative evidence on the basisof a discrepancy Raphael between came to terms with a circular Stato,# 1121, 0 were pub shed by suggestsRaphael's knowledge of the documenteddates of Sodoma's format. As such, it represents(with tl"re G.VI. Mont n a seres of aircles, for exampe, I Piccoomini D Aragona Signorelli'sfrescoes. Given their activityand thestylistic dating of Holy Family of the Palm in Edinburgh Duch di Amafi, un quadro dl Raffae o location - at the heart of a closedorder Raphael'sdrawing - could be revisited of roughly the samedate) a crucial e a biblioteca di papa Po | , Siud sulla Reppubblica Marinara di Amalfi, in an isolatedposition in the creteof to reacha differentconclusion. stage between the Terranuoua tondo of 1935,pp97 l41,especalyp115 southernTuscany - it seemsreasonable c. 1504-1505and the Alba Madonna See aso ihe dscusson n V Gozo, Raphae and Slena n C Peclretti. to suggestthat Raphaelwould have The Madotun dr:l Silarnio ol c. 1,509-1,1,. Raphael His Life and Wark in the Splildors af the ltalian Reraissarce, visited the abbey only for a reason,and The secondSienese commission I want The most interestingversion of the Forence, I989, pp. 66 68 {but with a rhismay well havebeen in connection to discussis the tondo thar was composition seemsto be the panel that quite unsustalnabe conclusion),and Shearman, op cit. n n. 6 above, with completing Signorelli'sfrescoes. mentioned amongstthe possessionsof was sold at Sotheby'sin London on 5 pp.926-27. Against this, one could arguethat SilviaPiccolomini in 1542.Silvia 7967 (1ot14, bought by 'Philipe' Tha da..ri^t^h ^f r nl.r '.a in rn July inventorys not,oJ course, a don Domenico Airoldi - who was Piccolomini was the only child of for f,850, Fig. 9) with an attribution to completelyreliabe piece of evidence. apparentlythe driving force behind Pierfrancescodi Andrea Piccolomini Andrea del Brescianino.t'This picture, Theattrbution might be fase, the descriptonmiseading, and the picture Signorelli'sfrescoes during his second and FrancescaSavelli. Following her which had beenacquired in Spainin coud haveentered the colecton 54 Raphael and Siena Madonna del Silenzio atte( 1802,was subsequentlyin the Raphael (1483-1 520), collectionsof Lucien Bonaparte,Prince after c. 1506-1 508. Frederik of Holland Oil on panel, diam c. 120 cm. and Marie, Fiirstin Present whereabouts zu Wied.'nOn the basisof a black and unKnown. white photograph, it is difficult to Pholo: O courtesy of the judge who painted this tondo, but it author, London appearsto be the bestof the surviving Dream of a Knight by Raphael versions,and an attribution to Raphael (1483-1 520), c. 1504. cannot be ruled out. Oil on panel,17 x17.3cm. National Gallery London Apart from the obvious connectionsbetween this composition 11 Three Graces by Baphael and the inventory descriptionof 1542, {1483-1 520), c. 1504. Oil on panel,17 x 17-6cm. various piecesof evidencebolster the Mus6e Cond6, Chantilly argument that the Madonna del indirectly.In this case, however, the Silenziowas identical with the picture veryeary date ol the nventorymakes in the Piccolominicollection. it ess kelythat the attrbutionis fase or thatthe picturewas not a Numerouscopies of thispicture are Pcco omini commlss on. Philippa either in Spanishcollections or Jacksonhas nevedheless po ntedout to methat some pantngs in the originatedihere, suggesting rhat a Pccolominicollectons were in fact part of the estateof Pandofo Petrucci version of the picture was known in in 1517 (andwere returned to the Spain from at leastthe mid-eighteenth Petrucciin 1539). G. Grcnau,Fafael, StuttgarYBerin/ century.roThis can probably be Lepzig,1909, p. 77 andA. Venturi, explained by the historic links between Raffaello,Aome, 1 920, p. 163, llustrateda rectangulavers on of the Naples (to which the Piccolomini composition(now at Princeton),but the d'Aragona cededAmalfi in 1583) and compositionsawkward n arectangle, whereit s wel balancedin a tondo. Spain.The composition was also Numerous copiesafter Raphael have highly influential in sixteenth-century beenassigned to Brescianino,and his knowledgeof the Madorna del Siena.As we haveseen, the version S/enzlois suggestedby someother versonsof the compositon under discussionhas beenattributed to (dlscussedbeow), but the ex- Brescianino(who worked in Siena Bonapairecollection plcture seems to be moreinteresting. between 1506 and L524), and another E. Hinterdingand F.Norsch, A sma copy of the composition that was sold but cholcecol ection: the ad galleryof Kng W em I ofthe Netherlands, at Philips in London (1 Jily 19971 Sm/b/us,vol. xx, no. l/2, T989, looks evenmore like paintings by pp.5-l 22,especlally p. 1 10. For the posslbty thatthis pcture can be Brescianino.r' tracedto the marqus de Carpio (for inventoryof 1688 (and perhaps Other derivations example, subsequentyin the collectionol that in the Museo de BellasArtes in CondeDuque de O vares,see J.lvl. RuizManera, Pintura ltaliana del Siglo Seville)appear to be Florentine, and rutil Espaa: ll Rafaely su 6cuela, may have been basedon the cartoon, N.4adrd,1996, p. 94). I knowofthe fo owingcircular of dubious authorship, which was in veEionsofthis composiUon, the the Uffizi u,nt1l1,939-45." Crowe and majoriryof whichare c. 120cm n d ameter:Ate Pnakothek,Mun ch; Cavalcaselleconsidered that the Museo de BellasAdes, Sev le; Alba earliest of thesecopies was the collectlon,l\,4adrd; Sta l\,4aria de las Duenas,Salamanca; N,4us e des rectangular version then in the Brocca BeauxArts, Agen; Sz pm v szeti lvluseum,Budapest; and formerly collection in Milan, for which they Chrsties,London, sold on 1B proposed an attribution to Ridolfo February1927. See L. Baldass,De Stelung der lvladonna d Gaetaim Ghirlandaio." If any of the Florentine WerkeRaffaeis, Zeltschrift f r bild. copies did originate with Ridolfo, then Kunst,vo . u, 1926/27, pp. 32-43, especalypp. 39-42;K. Garas, one can reasonablyrelate the original Sammlungsgeschichtiche Beitr ge Raphael to the Madonza describedby If it is acceptedthat the Madonna Pintoricchio for his chapel in zu RafiaeRaffael Werke in Budapest, the Bulletindu Mus e Hongroisdes Vasari as destinedfor some gentlemen del Silenziowas painted for the church of S Francescoin Siena Beaux-4fts.val. a-a,,1 983,pp. 41 - - 81, especiallypp. 56-70and Ruiz of Sienaand completed by Ridolfo it Piccolomini, then it seemsmost likely (delivered1504)* his deathin 1505 [,4anero,op. cit., pp.9'1 96. lackedblue draperies,probably the to have beenpainted for Pierfrancesco, probably ruleshim out as a possible 31 Thecopes after this composltion were - discussedby DavidEkserdjian in a Virgin's dress when Raphael left Silvia Piccolomini'sfather." Although patron. Insteadthe most obvious paperpresented at the Raphae Florence for Rome.toFor no very good it is tempting to try to connect the explanation is that Silvia Piccolomini Symposumat the NationalGallery London,in November2002. reason(probabiy related to its date) picture with Pierfrancesco'sfather, inherited the picture from her father. Thecartoon, wh ch was lostduring this passageis frequently related to Andrea - patron of Pintoricchio's Pierfrancesco's Word Warl, is illustratedand activity as a patron discussedin A.l\.4. Petro i Tofan(ed.), the Belle lardiniire in the Louvre, and library (1502) and Michelangelo's has yet to be investigated,but it is clea lnventaria2. , DisegnlFsposr, to a putative provenance (1501 Forence,1986-87, pp.728-29 (no. from the altar and 1504) in the cathedral that in the immediate aftermath of his 1774E). Sergardiof Siena. in Siena,as well as of an altarpieceby father'sdeath, he made a number of Raphael and Siena I an explanation, which could further tie especiallywhen the long-recognised 12Three Graces atler Raphael (?). #\ this picture to the consorteria connectionof the Chantilly picture (Fig. 0 483-1 520), before 1509 Pen and ink over traces of Piccolomini.If the original could be 1 1) with the antique group of the Three Qer\- black chalk and stylus, ?. traced and appearedto be a Gracesin the PiccolominiLibrary (Fig. 22.8x16.7 cm. collaboration betweenRaphael and 13) is considered. Accademia, Venice. "b"; iti Three Graces. Antique .i.4. Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, then the Raphaelwould, of course,have 8:* marble. Piccolomini Library connectionwould be proved beyond known this group as a resultof his Duomo, Siena. reasonabledoubt.tt involvement in the decoration of the Photo: Bridgeman Art Library PiccolominiLibrary, and his direct study J.A.Crowe and G.B. Cavalcasele, Another Sienesepatron after the group is also suggestedby a Raphael:His Life ffid Works,London, Raphael'sconnection with Sienamay drawing in the VeniceLibretto (Fig. 12). 1882-85,vol. r, pp. 354 56. Vasari,op. cit., vol. v, p. 165(1568, aiso be suggestedby the Tbree Gracesin One can alsopoint to Raphael'searly a^d coo 1 66n ad t ^n\ \/.c.ri quadro the Mus6e Cond6 at Chantilly and its Romanconnections with Sieneseartists recorded: Et intanto fece un che si mand in Siena,llquae nella relation to the Dream of the Knight in (Sodomain 1508-1509and Peruzziin partita di Raffaelo rimase a Ridofo de Ghirlandaio, perch eg finisse un the National GallerS London (Figs.10 1511),and patrons (includingAgostino panno aklutro che vi mancava IAt and 11). Thesetwo pictureshave a Chigi).ooIt is lesswell-known that the the same time he painted a picture 'computista that was afteruards sent to Siena, provenancefrom the Borghese fabricarum' of the Vatican, although, on the departure of collections in Rome (where they were Girolamo di Francesco(who appearsto Raphae , it was 1eftwith R dolfo Gh rlandaio, to the end that he mighl documents jointly with his brother first recordedin 1650), and Panofsky have been Bramante'sright-hand man, finlsh a piece of blue drapery that Giovanni (who seemsto have taken up famously connectedthem to Sienese and made all the most important was wantingl;Vasari, op. ct., vol.v, p.438 (1568)i lRaphael]glj lasc a the responsibilityof seeingto intellectual currents, suggestingScipione documents regarding the decoration of finire r panno aurro et altr-^poche (b.14931 cose che mancavano al quadro completionthe commissionsof Borghese as a possiblepatron the Stanze,including the first document d una l\,4adonnache egl avea fatta Pintoricchioand Michelangelo).If these in Siena."(The Borghesewere a Sienese for Raphaei'sactivity in Rome), was per alcun gentiluomini sanesit il qual quadro fln to che ebbe Ridofo con brothers frequently acted as a team, familS subsequentlyfamous in Ron.re.) also Sienese.o mota dlllgenza,lo mand a Siena. Vasarit referenceto Raphaelpainting a Although an alternativecase can be lRaphael left hlm to finish the b ue drapery and other little th ngs that Madonna for'alcuni gentiluomini made that this exquisite pair of (l>nclLrsiciri were wanting n the picture of a sanesi'(which is otherwiserather odd: paintings was made for a patron at the The Reception of Maurws and Placidus [,4adonna that he had painted for some gentlemen of Slena; wh ch why would a domesticpicture have court of Urbino,t' the Borghese and the Madonna del Silenzio have not picture Rido fo, after he had fin shed more than one male patron?),may find provenanceis highly suggestive, been taken into account when trying to it wth much diig-.nce, sent to Sienal Shearman,op. cit. in n. 6 above, pp. evaluate Raphael'sactiviry in Siena.This 926-27 argues that the wording of the nventory suggests that the is relatively new ground for Raphael picture came from Si vias mother studies,which has not hitherto allowed (Francesca Savel i), but the phrasing seems to fo low from the fact that the artisr'swork in the territorio senese Sllvla was entrusted to her mothers to have any significance.If the care after the death of Plerfrancesco Piccolomin , and I cannot see a cumulative evidenceis weighed, it seems reason why the p cture should not to me that we should rewrite the history be traced to his patronage. For these commiss ons see of Raphael'searly yearsto credit his Oberhuber,op. ci1.;H.R. Mlancusi- Urga.o, Michelangelo: The Bruges connectionswith Sienawith a real Madonna and the Piccalomini Altar, significancein the way his career New Haven and London, 197 1 and A. Toti, La chiesa di San Francesco developed.Raphael may have developed n S ena ed i Piccolomini , Bullettino significant artistic and patronal nerworks Senese dl Stor€ Patria, vo . r, 1894, pp. 77 97 (with reference to in Sienaat an early date. And, given the SigismondoTizio, September 1504). strong connectionsbetween Sienaand t wil be impossibleto test this thesis unless the orlgina s re Rome in this period, it could even be discovered, but it is c ear that some argued that his contact with Sienese of ihe cop es had dlfficu ties interpret ng the Virgin s draperies. artists such as Sodoma and his work for See E. Panofsky, Hercules am Scheidewege und andere antike Sienesepatrons such as the Piccolomini Bildstoffe in der neueren Kunst, may havebeen at leastas important in Lelpzig/Berlin,1930, pp. 37-52, 76 83, 142-50; E. Wind, Pagan securinga call to Rome as any of his Mysteries in the Renalssance, New work in Florence,Perugia or Urbino. York, 1967, pp. 81-85 and C. Gould, Catalogue of the Sxfeenth Century ltalian Schools, London, The exhibition'Raphael:from Urbino to 1975,pp. 212-15. See C. Plazotta in Chapman, Henry Rome'is at the National Gallery London and Pluzotta, op. cit., pp. 138-41 . For these see Shearman, op. c t. in from 20 October 2004 to 16 January n. 6 above,pp. 143-46, 154-55. 2005. 41 For comments on the crucial role payed by Glrolamo di Francesco da Siena in the decoratlon ofthe Stanze, Tom Henry is seniorlecturer in the see the Appendix to my article on Cesare da Sesto and Bald no Baldini history of art at Oxford Brookes in the Vatican apartments of Julius r , University,and co-curatorof 'Raphael: The Burlingtan A,4aguine, vol. cxLr, no.1 162 (January 2000), pp. 29-35, from Urbino to Rome'. especially pp. 34-35. 56 Raphaeland Siena