Raphael Cartoons

Raphael Cartoons. The Raphael Cartoons are a series of seven large-scale designs for tapestry created by the High Renaissance master Raphael and his workshop. Commissioned by Pope Leo X, they depict scenes from the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospels, primarily focusing on the lives of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The full-scale works, executed in tempera on paper, were sent to the workshop of Pieter van Aelst in Brussels to be woven into tapestries for the Sistine Chapel. Today, they are housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where they are recognized as seminal works of Renaissance art.

History and Commission

The commission originated with Pope Leo X, who sought to adorn the lower walls of the Sistine Chapel beneath Michelangelo's famed ceiling. The project, initiated around 1515, was part of a broader program of artistic patronage by the Medici pope to assert the authority of the Papacy and the Catholic Church. Raphael, then the principal painter to the Papal court and architect of St. Peter's Basilica, was entrusted with designing a cycle of tapestries illustrating the founding of the Christian church. The completed designs were dispatched to the renowned Brussels workshop of the weaver Pieter van Aelst, a center for luxury tapestry production in the Southern Netherlands. The first set of woven hangings was completed and installed in the chapel in time for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul in 1519.

Description and Subject Matter

The seven surviving cartoons illustrate dramatic narratives from the New Testament, emphasizing the primacy of Saint Peter and the missionary work of Saint Paul. The scenes include *The Miraculous Draught of Fishes*, *Christ's Charge to Peter*, *The Healing of the Lame Man*, *The Death of Ananias*, *The Blinding of Elymas*, *The Sacrifice at Lystra*, and *Saint Paul Preaching at Athens*. These episodes were selected to draw parallels between the apostolic succession from Saint Peter to the contemporary Pope and the evangelical mission of the Church. The compositions are populated with numerous figures, including apostles, Roman soldiers, Jewish priests, and citizens of Athens and Lystra, set against elaborate architectural and landscape backgrounds that reflect Raphael's study of ancient Rome and his mastery of perspective.

Technique and Artistic Significance

Executed in tempera on many sheets of paper glued together, the cartoons are monumental in scale, each measuring roughly three to five meters in height. They served as the direct, full-scale patterns for the weavers, who worked from the reverse to produce the final tapestries in silk and wool thread wound with silver-gilt. Artistically, they represent a pinnacle of High Renaissance design, synthesizing Raphael's profound understanding of classical antiquity, his dynamic figure compositions influenced by Michelangelo, and his sophisticated use of chiaroscuro and color. The spatial clarity, emotional gravity, and complex narrative staging seen in works like *The Blinding of Elymas* had an immediate and profound impact on contemporaries, including Giulio Romano and the emerging Mannerists, and established a new benchmark for history painting.

Later History and Influence

After the tapestries were woven, the cartoons' subsequent history was complex. By the early 17th century, they were in the possession of the English Crown, having been acquired by the future King Charles I while still Prince of Wales, on the advice of his art advisor, Sir Peter Paul Rubens. They were later used by the Mortlake Tapestry Works under King Charles II to weave new sets. As key works in the Royal Collection, they were studied intensively by generations of artists, including Sir Joshua Reynolds and the founding members of the Royal Academy of Arts. Their compositional principles and heroic style directly influenced the development of the Grand Manner in British art and were instrumental in the pedagogy of institutions like the Royal Academy Schools.

Current Location and Display

Since 1865, the cartoons have been on permanent loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where they are displayed in a purpose-built gallery, the Raphael Court. Their preservation is a major priority for the museum's conservation department, given their fragility and age. They are rarely lent to other institutions, most notably for a landmark exhibition at the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua and a special display at the Sistine Chapel itself. As some of the most important Renaissance drawings in existence, they continue to be a focal point for scholarly study on Raphael, the Papacy, and the art of tapestry in the 16th century.

Category:1510s paintings Category:Collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum Category:Renaissance drawings