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Last weekend the annual Sydney J. Freedberg Lecture on Italian Art at the National Gallery of Art was "Not a Painting But a Vision."   Andreas Henning, curator from Dresden, Germany, spoke about The Sistine Madonna , a magnificent altarpiece Raphael painted in 1512 which is now in the Dresden State Art Museum.   I have written about it in a previous blog , comparing the Mary of this painting to the  Raphael's lovely image of inner and outer beauty in La Donna Velata . However, as the title suggested, it is painting of a vision and that Mary is not of this world.  She has facial features of that generic beauty similar to those of the Donna Velata , but she is more ethereal and otherworldly.  As much as we may want to reach out and hug the baby Jesus, we can't. The Madonna also carries a tinge of sadness in this image, a practice artists used to reveal Mary recognition that her Son will die someday.  However, two saints, Saint Sixtus and Saint Barba...

My friend at Smashedpc.com sent me this photo of the Veiled Woman in Las Vegas, while another friend said she should be the Madonna in the Elvis Wedding Chapel. What a combination, but hardly more ironic than using Raphael's Madonna of the Chair , right, in one of the interior settings of the Desperate Housewives ' TV show, although the neighbors on Wisteria Lane hardly embody the ideals of Raphael's beautiful women. As I'm thinking of it more and more, it seems that The Veiled Woman may represent Raphael's ideal for a perfect womanhood more than a real person, the same ideal behind his images of Mary at this time.  She looks like she could be the mother to Raphael's bambini Jesus of this time, also portrayed as the perfect chubby baby.   For example, the Madonna of the Chair , left,  has a similar face, but is almost in profile. The Sistine Madonna , right, has the same face in a frontal view. Either the same model is seen in these three paintin...

Over a Thanksgiving trip to Portland, Oregon, I came upon a pleasant surprise, Raphael's D onna Velata , was visiting the Portland Art Museum for a one-painting loan exhibition. One of my top 10 favorite paintings, I had last seen the veiled lady at the Art Institute of Chicago 10 years ago, when two Renaissance portraits had been sent from Florence in exchange for five Monets. Who is this Donna Velata , this remarkable woman, who is succeeding in the quest to bring crowds into smaller regional museums? How can she capture so much attention? She is not as well known as the Mona Lisa , but most of my students past and present have stated a preference for the kinder, gentler vision of womanhood presented by Raphael over the all-knowing, godly woman of Leonardo. The white lady wins over the shadows of Mona Lisa. Donna Velata's dress is luxurious, full, silky and lined with gold. The sleeves are voluminous. An elegant necklace doesn't detract from the welcoming gaze fro...