It is the Madonna of Foligno, one of the valuable works by Raphael exhibited in the Vatican Museums of Rome. This work of art is one of the reasons why I suggest you to enjoy a tour here, with a professional and local tour guide, because of the renaissance masterpieces set in the Vatican Museums and made by Raphael.

There are some interesting points to note, in addition to the extraordinary skill of the artist in the use of colour and the make of the bulky and delicate bodies. Let's see in the meantime, the Virgin with the Child seating on a cloud surrounded by a golden light, like a sort of Sun. Raphael will take inspiration from the famous episode of the apparition of the Sibyl (a prophetess derived from greek-roman age), to Augustus. The Sibyl prophesied to the first emperor of Rome to the coming of the son of God, so much so that he was convinced to erect an altar in His honor. The episode would have been place where today stands the Basilica of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli, and the name Latin derives from this tradition ("Ara Coeli" means altar of the sky). Apart from the story itself, it is symptomatic to note how the master of the Renaissance age, for his valuable paintings, used to take inspiration from everything that concerned the classical world. And you can understand how the Renaissance itself was inspired by roman sarcophagi or reliefs, but also stories and legends. But it does not end here!

At the background, blurred and almost like magic, we see a town surmounted by a faint rainbow and a small red dot. The citadel in question is Foligno, while the red dot represents an event that really happened: the city of Foligno, at the beginning of the XV century, was hit by a small meteorite which created damage to people or things. Perhaps it was a bolide, or, according to others, a fireball launched by a cannon ball. We do not know , but the fact is, however, that this phenomenon, of heavenly or human origin, destroyed in particular the house of Sigismondo de' Conti, secretary to pope Julius II. The man of the papal court came out unscathed and he decided, therefore, to commission to Raphael a painting as a votive dedication to the Virgin Mary. He though that survived thanks to Her grace. Our Sigismondo is clearly visible in the painting, because he is the man on his knees with a cape red on the right, intent to ask thanks to the Virgin.

I would also tell you how, originally, the Madonna of Foligno was a work of art on the table, then carried on the wooden surface. It is, indeed, the first roman altar-piece designed by Raphael, which already in the ’500 was moved to Foligno. Today, however, the support of the work of art is a canvas. It depends on the fact that in 1797, when the French people, after the occupation of Rome, attempted to move the masterpiece to the Louvre, saw the bad state of preservation. To move it better and in a safety way the work of art was transported on canvas. Anyway, the Madonna of Foligno remains one of the masterpieces of the early Renaissance who beautified Rome and made famous by the young painter of Urbino, capable of going from strong contrasts in color of the clothes of the main characters to the soft colours, typical of the venetian school, of the background. A genius who died, unfortunately, at the age of 37. Although he died in a very young age, still today his legacy is strong and immortal...