Sistine Madonna / Sistine Madonna

In the history of the creation of the most famous work of Raphael, much is still shrouded in mystery.
Altar images were then written on a board, but Raphael painted this Madonna on canvas. At first, the "Sistine Madonna" was in the semicircular choir of the monastery church (now defunct), and the towering figure of the Mother of God seemed from afar soaring in the air. In 1754, the painting was purchased by King August III of Saxony and brought to his Dresden residence. The court of the Saxon electors paid 20,000 zechins for it - a considerable sum for those times. And now, when visitors to the famous Gallery come closer to the picture, they are more enveloped in a new impression. The Mother of God no longer soars in the air, but as if walking towards you

The parapet at the bottom of the picture is the only barrier that separates the earthly world from the heavenly world. As in reality, the green curtain parted to the sides, and Mary with the divine son in her arms appears to your gaze. She walks, and it seems that now the Mother of God will step over the parapet and step on the ground, but this moment lasts forever. The Madonna remains motionless, always ready to descend and always inaccessible.

There is neither earth nor sky in the picture, there is no familiar landscape or architectural decoration in the depths. All the free space between the figures is filled with clouds, thicker and darker at the bottom, more transparent and radiant at the top. The overweight, aged figure of Saint Sixtus, drowning in the heavy folds of the gold-woven papal vestments, froze in solemn worship. His outstretched hand to us eloquently emphasizes the main idea of the picture - the appearance of the Mother of God to people.
Saint Barbara bent down on the other side.
Reverently and tenderly, Madonna presses her son to her chest, sitting in her arms. Neither mother nor child can be imagined separately from each other, their existence is possible only in indissoluble unity. Mary - human intercessor - brings her son to meet people. Her lonely procession expresses all that mournful and tragic sacrifice to which the Mother of God is doomed.
Raphael wrote The Sistine Madonna at a time when he himself was experiencing severe grief. And therefore he put all his sorrow into the divine face of his Madonna - the most perfect embodiment of the ideal in Christianity. He created the most beautiful image of the Mother of God, combining in it the features of the highest religious ideality with the highest humanity.