COPPERPLATE ENGRAVING – “THE MADONNA DI SAN SISTO” and “THE ANGELS OF THE MADONNA DI SAN SISTO” from the original painting by Raphael, and both engraved by M. Steinla, and published in the mid 1800’s.  The means by which a copperplate is engraved gives it more detail and depth to the picture.  Copperplate engravings are seen as the most perfect means of reproducing a painting or other forms of visual art, thus giving it the most artistic value of any form of engraving.  These engravings are in very good condition.  The first engraving measures 9 3/4” x 6 7/8”, and the “Angels” 5 7/8” x 10 ¼”, both are matted to 16” x 20” for easy framing. 

      The “Madonna di San Sisto’ in the Dresden Gallery, is one of the most splendid of Raphael’s works, and one of the greatest masterpieces of painting.  The Madonna is a subject that has often been treated by Raphael, but he almost always represented her merely as a human being, without any dogmatical attributes.  There are but a few of his Madonnas, who are represented sitting on a throne.  It was only in his last picture of the Madonna, that Raphael painted her in all the glory of a mother of God and the queen of angels and of Heaven, and this picture if the Madonna di San Sisto.  It seems, as if the artist had reserved the whole power of his genius, to paint this last, unrivalled picture of the Madonna.

      The curtain concealing the world to come is drawn aside, and Heaven is revealed to the faithful.  May with the Christ-Child, in lines boldly drawn, is advancing in a solemn procession, on the light azure background of cherubins, Mary, the virgin-mother, with all her simple and natural bearing, and with all her humility, but still conscious of the majesty of Him, whom she is carrying in her arms; through Him she is radiant and exalted, through Him she is the queen of Heaven.  There is no other picture, in which Mary appears as being at once so nobly human and divine, and the bright, all-seeing eyes of the Infant Christ indicate, that He, too, is conscious of His mission as the Son of God and Man.  It is a face of unfathomable depth of thought, blended most wonderfully with the outlines and features of that of a child.  Representatives of the different ages and sexes approach adoring the mother with the child.  The holy pope Sixtus has divested himself of the insignia of his worldly power, the tiara, and pointing to his flock, looks with an expression of confidence at the Madonna, to intercede for them.  St. Barbara, on the other side, with a gentle smile on her face, looking benevolently downward, seems to announce, that the Pope’s intercession has been successful.  The characteristic features of the Pope reflect implicit faith but in the bearing of the Virgin Saint, immaculate and untarnished, as she is, by human passions, and aspiring after the ideal, there is still an indication of her faith not having yet attained the highest degree of fully developed freedom and confidence.  The two angels, reclining as it were, on the threshold of Heaven, shadow forth all the unsophisticated and implicit faith of childhood.  Thus the figures surrounding the principal group may be looked upon as the representations of the three phases of Christian faith.

      Considering the many excellent criticisms of this picture that have been published, it seems superfluous to say any more about the excellence of this work of art, about its composition, so simple and still so harmonious as a whole, on the peculiar visionary expression of the Madonna.  Winkelmann, in his work on the imitation of works of Grecian art, has extolled the picture with all the fervour of his ardent, art-loving soul; and after him many pens have been busy in explaining the picture, both in prose and verse.

      According to Vasari, who is the first that mentions this picture, it was painted for the cloister of St. Sixtus at Piacenza.  The picture being painted on canvas has led to the opinion, which is not an improbable one, that it was originally intended to be used as a flag in the Church, since other pictures of the Roman and Tuscan school of a similar size, are mostly painted on wood. Afterwards the picture received its permanent place on the high altar of the aforesaid church, where it remained till the year 1753, when Augustus III who, when traveling through Italy, saw and admired the picture, and was fortunate enough to buy it for 40,000 scudi (about 20,000 ducates) promising at the same time, that a copy should be made of it, to replace the original.  The injuries which the picture had received in the course of time, and by those who copied it, were almost entirely removed by Palmaroli, who restored it in the year 1827.

     The value of this wonderful picture is increased by its being painted entirely by Raphael’s own hands; most of his other pictures, especially those of his latter years, were finished with the aid of his pupils.  Inspired by the peculiar nature of his subject, and conscious of his perfect mastery, he was probably induced to paint this picture on canvas at once, without having made any sketches of it beforehand; for among the numerous sketches of Raphael’s which have been preserved, there are none made of this picture.  Some alterations, made while the work was in progress, the outlines of which can still be traced, are proof evident that Raphael, in painting this picture, followed the loftiest inspirations of his genius, which in no other work of his was manifested with greater power and freedom.

       This size of the picture does not allow the whole of it to be reproduced by our engraving, which contains only the chief group in the centre, Mary with the Child, in medallion form.  Of the same form is the engraving representing the two angels at the bottom of the picture. 

                                                                                    By Carl Clauss

IMPORTANT TO NOTE

Antique prints, engravings, and lithographs are printing processes, which use steel, copper, stone or wood blocks or plates to produce a picture on paper.

Most antique prints and engravings, which are seen on the internet today, are bookplates.  Because they are pages from a book, there are multiple copies in existence.  This does not, however, mean that they are "reproductions" that have been printed recently.  Because they were, at some point, part of books, some have been preserved in excellent condition, while others show signs of age, as yellow spots or darkness on the edge of the page from being handled.

Engravings, and lithographs are high quality pieces of art, as it took a highly trained artist many hours of work to produce one.  Although there may be multiple copies still in existence, the date of the item should be stated in the auction, thus giving the buyer an idea of its age.

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