Raphael ~ La Velata

Yes, I've been here in Portland since October 24 and I'll be here for another two months. Each day except Sunday and Monday is the same for me. Visitors start to visit at 10 am except Sunday when it's at noon.Security seems to always be here. Monday the museum is closed so I'm pretty much by myself except for that ever present Security. I'm really beginning to like this touring away from home. Home for me is the Palatine Gallery at the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy. Back there sometimes people hardly even stop to see me, the place is so large. They've seen so many other paintings; they have an agenda; they're hungry; they're tired. Here in Portland, they've made a special point to come and see me. They stand close, not as close as Raphael did, but close. It's good to look into their eyes and see my reflection. I hear them talk about how I look. They stay for a long time, ten or 15 minutes just looking. That's a good feeling.

I'm dressed in creamy silk, I'm like a portrait in beige and white. I wanted to wear more red but Raphael said no. When you come to see me you'll see how he painted my veil and the background, they're so similar in color but not. And then look at the gold trim on the sleeves. And those sleeves – I loved how the material was so very full. He said that with all of those creams against my skin tones I would attract more attention. People would stay longer to look at the way the shadows change, how the values of the colors shift. Look at how he painted the folds of the sleeves. I'm positive he put those three bows around my neckline so your eyes would be certain to take in all of my neck around the back even. He also insisted that strand of hair on my forehead be not quite in place. I wanted to put it back but he said no. "This is how I remember you. Sitting there across the room from me with that all knowing gaze. Men will look at you and see you as a sensual woman. Women will look at you and see you as a sensual woman. Both will see you as a strong person, someone to reckon with." That's what I remember him saying. Oh and other things but they were just between him and me.

I'm glad he waited to paint me in 1516. His style of painting seemed so much more realistic than what he had done five and ten years before. He used a technique called sfumato that Leonardo had developed. (Here's a definition from About.Com Sfumato: A word, from the Latin (via Italian) fumare ("to smoke"), used to denote a painting technique. Sfumato means that there are no harsh outlines (as in a coloring book) present; areas blend into one another through miniscule brushstrokes, which makes for a rather hazy, albeit more realistic, depiction of light and color.) My skin does look quite marvelous especially compared to that of Maddalena Doni - take a look at her portrait on the left. Raphael painted her back in 1506. I also prefer how he did my necklace and hair ornament. There's a nice contrast with my skin but they're not gaudy or ostentatious. Speaking of flash, look at her left hand – does she have enough rings on? Raphael hid my left hand in my portrait. In La Fornarina, the ring is shown, albeit small and discreet. That pleased me.

You'll really get to know me when you come to the gallery. Be patient and maybe you'll have some time with just me alone (the security officers are very discreet). We'll have that moment where we can exchange glances. And then you'll want to see me again and again. You'll have that chance until January 3 and then I go to Reno, Nevada for a few months and then off to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After that you'll have to visit me in Florence, Italy. I hope you do come while I'm here though.

Raphael ~ Margherita as La Fornarina obsessed by Raphael, Ingres and Picasso

Not only is Margherita Luti thought to be the sitter for Raphael's La Velata (currently on view here at the Portland Art Museum), history has it that she also is the woman in La Fornarina. No longer as demure, Margherita is mostly naked. She has the same pearl bauble on the silk turban on her head as she does in La Velata. But, the other jewelry is quite telling, a tiny ring on the first knuckle of the most important finger of her left hand and a blue armband that proclaims the artist's name Raphael of Urbino in big gold letters. As Amy said yesterday, "ah love". The up and coming Raphael would have hurt his standing with the monied Rome and Florentine aristocracy if he had married this mere daughter of a baker from Siena. However, that didn't keep him from having her around him almost constantly. She is purportedly not only the object of beauty in La Velata and La Fornarina but also the model he used for many of the women in his other paintings. What have others made of this painting and Raphael's relationship with Margherita?Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres in 1814 decided to let us all know his opinion of Raphael and La Fornarina. That armband with the gravure of Raphael's name meant to Ingres that our man Raphael and Margherita were an item. In his Raphael and La Fornarina, Margherita sits on Raphael's lap. They had been embracing, but now she stares out at us while he looks back at his composition, paintbrush in hand ready to put on the wet red paint at the end of the bristles. Ingres painting helped keep this romance alive another century until Picasso picked up the meme when he did his 347 series. At the age of 87, Picasso did 347 etchings during a six month period. That's an incredible output for anyone let alone someone nearing ninety years of age. And since Picasso had always been known for his obsession with sex it's not surprising then to learn that each and everyone of these etchings is sexual in nature. And 25 of them are of our man Raphael and La Fornarina. Some include noted members of history such as the Pope and Michelangelo. In the one shown below Michelangelo is peeking out from under the bed. For those who want to see more of Picasso's 347 series, click here.
You have to love those shoes. Sex and shoes, the two s's in life.

The Story

Oh how we love the story. The characters are interchangable, one article written about Margherita and Raphael compare them to George Clooney secretly marrying his house keeper. Characters change, but it's the story that matters.
I was listening to a thesis on C.D. about Margaret Atwood's short story, Happy Endings. In it, she takes two people- John and Mary- and hypothesizes six story lines in what is called Meta-literature; a post modern writing style of fiction that brings the reader into the conversation by actually asking you to listen, or telling you what you are thinking.
Atwood takes this couple, John and Mary, and rewrites their storyline six times. Each time she is explaining both the creation of story and the creation of life. Her writing is like thinking in that she is contemplating plot, and how it is written, and how many plotlines there can be to any one story, as if she is wondering about it herself.
In story line A- the one she calls The Happy Ending- the couple falls in love, gets married, have challenging and fulfilling careers, fun vacations, challenging and fulfilling hobbies, lovely children, they grow old and eventually die.
The thesis writer points out that even her language- challenging and fulfilling- are words that parody the things they mean. She follows this story line with five others, the one where John uses Mary for sex, Mary cheats on John for a younger man with a motorcycle, John and Mary have economically different backgrounds and face a Marxist break down...etc. Atwood concludes that all stories are easy to begin, that the true story connoisure is the one who makes the middle the most interesting, and that they all end the same. she writes:
John and Mary Die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die.
Raphael and Margherita have the story line we love the best. The one that preserves them forever. He was in the height of his career and she went off to a convent to die of a broken heart. They don't grow old together, they don't have children, and we still don't know if they ever had that rumored clandestine marriage ceremony. He was supposed to be wed to the niece of a Cardinal to increase his stature, but he never did. In the end they die, but in life they loved. Part of that love was what kept them apart- Raphael loved a simple peasant and Margherite loved a star artist, neither would ever have the life of the other even if they took each other for lovers.
We have the story. And everyone knows the best story illustrates itself in language, words make pictures we can see, pictures that breathe. Raphael, possibly more than any other artist the world has ever seen, was able to do that in painting. La Velata breathes, she tells us a story without whispering a single word. And she is here, now, for a little while.

Raphael - La Donna Velata, Margherita Luti

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen this painting is here in Portland. You can pay $5.00 over and above regular museum entrance costs, whatever that is for you, and see this amazing piece of priceless Renaissance art (truth in blogging Mr. Row from the Oregonian, take note). The Portland Art Museum is hosting this masterpiece by Raphael until January 3. At that point you can travel to Reno, Nevada and then after that to Wisconsin to see her. She will leave the United States in June of 2010. The price of the airfare to see this masterpiece escalates substantially after that. Summer fares to Florence, Italy from Portland - $800 at the least, at the back of the plane. Now add in meals and lodging and then the euros begin to slide through your fingers like sand on the beach.

Stand in the southern most gallery of the Portland Art Museum and you will see her breathe. Much as she probably did for Raphael. Stories vary but this one from Wisconsin catches the heat of the moment...

Raphael’s personal life was complex. He never married but was reputed to have had many relationships. In 1514 he became engaged to Maria Bibbiena, the niece of an influential Cardinal and Raphael’s friend. The marriage never took place, and she died in 1520. Raphael lived a grand lifestyle in Rome and attained some status at court. It is believed that he died on his 37th birthday in 1520. He left a significant portion of his estate to Margherita Luti—La Donna Velata—and he was buried in the Pantheon.

Look at her eyes and her mouth, I think of her saying to Raphael as she exhales, you will pay for this later.

Update - 10 November 2009:
Barry Johnson wrote a compelling article on La Donna Velata. I think of it as what should have been written in the Oregonian when this exquisite painting first arrived here in Portland. Click here to read Mr. Johnson's Portland Arts Watch article.