L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 4, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 24 L'Italo-Americano SIMONE SANNIO N obody would ever ques- tion the formidable artis- tic genius behind Raphael's greates t w orks : together with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti, the artist was among the lumi- naries of the High Renaissance, as well as one of the most influ- ential painters of all times. But even so, a brand new film by Luca Viotto, titled Raffaello, il pr incipe delle ar ti – in 3D (Raphael, Prince of the Arts – in 3D), sets out to examine the ori- gins of this artist's undisputed greatness with the use of the lat- est film technologies. Viotto had already directed two documentaries about the Uffizi Gallery of Florence and the Papal Basilicas of Rome, respectively: with this new film he decided instead to investigate Raphael's life and works by mixing compelling historical reconstructions and interesting digressions by well-known art critics. The role of Raphael, in particular, is played by the Italian actor Flavio Parenti (who had previous ly appeared in Woody Allen's To Rome with Love), but other key figures of the Renais s ance – s uch as Donato Bramante and Pietro Bembo – appear on the silver screen as well. What is more, the film includes breathtaking close- ups of dozens of Raphael's mas- terpieces, not to mention the marvelous views on the three cities where the artist spent most of his life: Urbino, Florence, and Rome. The film cannot but begin in Urbino, the little town in the Marche region where Raffaello Sanzio was born in 1483. At that time, the place was one of the capitals of the Renais s ance: Raphael's father, G iovanni Santi, was himself a painter at the court of the local Duke, the famous Federico da Montefeltro. For these reasons, the young Raphael surely had the occasion to grow up in a very stimulating cultural environment, assisting in his father's workshop and admiring Piero della Francesca's masterpieces inside Urbino's Ducal Palace. Even though he had already started to demon- strate his unique talent as an artist, however, it was only after his father's premature death that Raphael – still in his teens – completed his apprenticeship with the great Umbrian painter P ietro P erugino. Whereas Raphael's first altarpieces, por- traits, and Madonnas were heavi- ly influenced by his master, with the realization of the well-known Marriage of the Virgin (Lo spos- alizio della Vergine) – which revolutionized a similar work by Perugino – the young painter had definitely reached his artistic maturity. Nonetheless, as Viotto's film rightly points out, Raphael's so- called "Florentine period" was Raffaello's self-portrait (1504-1506) The new film by Luca Viotto, titled Raffaello, il principe delle arti, examines the origins of this artist undisputed greatness with the use of the latest film technologies Raphael, Prince of the Arts: A New Film Explains His Genius even more important in the shap- ing and development of his art. As a matter of fact, after some time s pent betw een P erugia, Città di Cas tello and S iena, around 1504 the painter decided to move to the "cradle of the Renaissance" in order to further refine his technique: just think that in thos e days , along Florence's streets, it was possi- ble to w alk into Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael all at once! After all, it is not surpris- ing that the young artist then began to assimilate Leonardo's lesson in his own paintings: their encounter, fictionalized in the film, left vis ible marks in Raphael's works from this peri- od, most notably in his portraits (Agnolo Doni and Maddalena Strozzi), Madonnas with child (L a belle jar dinièr e and Madonna of the Goldfinch), and altarpieces (The Deposition of Christ). In 1508 Raphael was sum- moned to Rome by none other than Pope Julius II, who wanted the artist to fresco his library and apartments in the Vatican Palace, an ambitious work which was to be continued under his successor Leo X (it was in those years that Raphael realized the famous por- traits of the two popes). The painter was going to spend the rest of his life in the Eternal City, working on his greatest master- piece: the Stanze Vaticane, or Raphael Rooms, including such timeless classics as The School of Athens (La scuola di Atene), The Deliverance of Saint Peter (La liberazione di San Pietro), and T he Fir e in the Bor go (L'incendio di Borgo). This, however, was by no means the artist's sole occupation in Rome: besides being commissioned with the realization of a new plan for the construction of St. Peter's Basilica, Raphael also worked on a series of tapestries that were to be displayed on special occa- sions in the Sistine Chapel, just fres hly fres coed by M ichelangelo. In addition, Viotto's film lingers on other projects that also marked the pin- nacle of Raphael's incredible career: for example, the decora- tive fres coes for A gos tino Chigi's Villa Farnesina, or the tw o mys terious portraits L a Velata (The woman with the veil) and La Fornarina (The baker's daughter), representing M argerita Luti, Raphael's beloved mistress. The last scenes of Raffaello, il principe delle arti are focused on the artis t's las t days , s pent between his dying bed and the completion of his last painting, the T r ans figur ation (Tras fi- gurazione). In the end, by watch- ing this great film one can only wonder whether the "Prince of the Arts" could have taken his genius even further, had he not died of a sudden fever on Good Friday 1520, at age 37. But one thing is for sure: by assimilating, encapsulating, and enhancing the lesson of the Renaissance mas- ters, Raphael became one of them, to the extent that – as the epitaph on his tomb in Rome's Pantheon reads – "Nature feared to be conquered by him while he lived, and when he was dying, feared herself to die". NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS

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