Raphael employed a triangular composition in illusionistic depth, creating
a pyramidal shape that is characteristic of the High Renaissance. St. Sixtus
has a beard, for which there is an unusual explanation. During the war with
France, Pope Julius II grew a beard and swore that he would not shave it
off until the French were driven from Italy. Though painted around 1513,
the illusionism in this work offered inspiration to artists of the Baroque
era. Raphael’s greatness is attested by the continuous borrowing from and
reference to his works by artists of later centuries. The little angels depicted
at the bottom are still irresistible despite commercial exploitation.
Our next example is Galatea (c. 1513–1514, Farnesina, Rome). Agostino
Chigi, Sienese banker and treasurer to the pope, built a pleasure villa on the
banks of the Tiber River and had it decorated with painted rooms. Galatea is
a fresco in a room where the decoration remained incomplete. This work is
an excellent example of movement balanced with stasis. The subject is taken
from Ovid’s Metamorphoses; the nymph Galatea À ees from Polyphemus,
a one-eyed giant. She rides in her chariot, a giant cockleshell pulled by
dolphins, accompanied by sea deities, including the intertwined pair at lower
left. From above, three cupids aim their amorous arrows at Galatea. Note
that Chigi built this villa for his mistress.
During the High Renaissance (c. 1480–1520), artists favored the pyramid
as a composition device. The greater development of volumetric solids in
perspective space gave the appearance of a full-rounded pyramidal ¿ gure or
group, as in our example. Galatea moves to the right in her chariot with her
arms stretched to the right, while her legs and torso face the picture plane,
and her head turns back to the left, watching Polyphemus. Her hair and the
echoing drapery move toward the left.
The tritons in the right middle ground also maintain the balance of opposing
directions, one ¿ gure moving right, two moving left. The cupids in the
sky form the corners of another triangle, effectively putting the capstone
on the group below and canceling out the various directional cues. The
compositional core remains Galatea, and the fresco’s composition is generated
by her S-shaped pose. She is one of Raphael’s most inspired ¿ gures, and he
repeated the design more than once. Polyphemus is, in fact, in another fresco
by a different artist. Galatea looks across the corner of the room at him, thus