Week 3: Raphael and the catholic religion

Disputation of the Holy Sacrament 1509-1510 by Raphael 200 × 300 Vatican Museums

On this painting, there are three parts. On the top above all the characters are angels gathered around the God Father, who seems to be carrying a depitction of earth. Underneath him is then the Christ, sitting in front of what looks like to be a representation of the golden sun. The Virgin and Saint John the Baptist are close around him, The Virgin looking at him in a motherlike way, and Saint John pointing at him. Eventually, at the center, rests the Holy Spirit. On each side of this assembly, the Most Holy Trinity, is the Triumphant Church which is composed of prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament consorting apostles and martyrs, seated in an arc above the clouds. Eventually, underneath these Holy figures, remains the Militant Church. And so, Raphael uses bright colors for his composition. However he reserves the gold one for the angelic pieces. Nevertheless, this art work is a remarkably detailed: Looking carefully, the clouds are composed of countless angels. Moreover, the peculiar features assist us in getting the expression and the gesture of the personnages, which themselves incite us to believe that an argument is going on between the different actors of the scene, especially the ones present on the ground.

In his work, Raphael seems to separate intentionally the sacred personnages in his painting from their preachers. Indeed, the clouds create a barrier between both of those world, the one in the sky, Heaven, and the one on earth. As a matter of fact, Raphael was a fervent catholic and in throughout his entire life he tried to honor his religion throughout his work and to defend it as the golden one. The barrier he creates here could be to place the Saints above the people. Furthermore, the gold stands for the wealth, as intellectual as material, of the delegates of the Catholic religion. Therefore, through his art, he made himself the spokeman of the Catholic religion and of its magnitude.

Today, millions of people have visited the Vatican Museums and, through the paintings of Raphael, admired the eminence of the Catholic religion. Indeed, Raphael completed his purpose by promoting the grandeur of his religion views with his work.