Madonna Colonna

The Gemäldegalerie’s latest work by Raphael dates from the late Florentine period and shows a marked change vis-à-vis the Madonna Terranuova, which dates from only a few years earlier: the palette has become much lighter—even changing from dark to light blonde for the hair—, the chiaroscuro is somewhat more reticent, and the modelling more delicate. The features are softer and fuller, the movements less restrained, livelier and more elegant. Christ is turning his face encouragingly to the viewer in an apparently spontaneous movement. At the same time the horizon is lowered, the landscape becomes more delicate, and the trees more feathery.