Raphael's Artistic Technique
Very much like Perugino, his apprentice, Raphael applied paint thickly in areas of dark color and extremely thin on areas of lighter color and flesh. Cracking can be seen in many of his paintings because of an excess of resin in the varnish. Also like Perugino, Raphael keeps the light in his paintings light and clear. His drawings were usually of a high degree and had a finished quality, with shading and sometimes white highlights. Raphael was one of the last artists to employ the technique of metalpoint, but he did use red and black chalk as a freer medium. In the last years, he became one of the first artists to use female models to plan out paintings. Up until that time, male models were used for the depiction of both sexes.
In the “Florentine Period”, Raphael’s paintings became more dynamic and complex. He painted scenes of men fighting, and other large actions. More people began to make their way on to a single canvas of Raphael’s. Also, he adopted the pyramidal structure from Leonardo da Vinci in many of his paintings in the “Roman Period” of his career. Raphael achieves the realistic quality of skin through adopting another one of Leonardo da Vinci’s techniques, called sfumato modeling.
The composition, subjects, and new depiction of the Holy Family in Raphael’s works reflect the Renaissance period. The figures that Raphael puts the focus on are drawn to the viewer’s attention by linear and rounded backgrounds, reflecting Renaissance architecture. The people of his paintings are all engaged in discussing, reading, or writing. Raphael paints the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus as distraught, contrary to how the two had previously been depicted. The countenances of the Virgin Mary and Jesus in previous paintings were serene and confident. When Raphael painted the Holy Family differently, he had instilled the idea that they had true emotional gravity; that they were reacting to the impending predicting of Jesus’ crucifixion.
In the “Florentine Period”, Raphael’s paintings became more dynamic and complex. He painted scenes of men fighting, and other large actions. More people began to make their way on to a single canvas of Raphael’s. Also, he adopted the pyramidal structure from Leonardo da Vinci in many of his paintings in the “Roman Period” of his career. Raphael achieves the realistic quality of skin through adopting another one of Leonardo da Vinci’s techniques, called sfumato modeling.
The composition, subjects, and new depiction of the Holy Family in Raphael’s works reflect the Renaissance period. The figures that Raphael puts the focus on are drawn to the viewer’s attention by linear and rounded backgrounds, reflecting Renaissance architecture. The people of his paintings are all engaged in discussing, reading, or writing. Raphael paints the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus as distraught, contrary to how the two had previously been depicted. The countenances of the Virgin Mary and Jesus in previous paintings were serene and confident. When Raphael painted the Holy Family differently, he had instilled the idea that they had true emotional gravity; that they were reacting to the impending predicting of Jesus’ crucifixion.