Raphael's Altar of Heaven - the Madonna di Foligno

A cursory glance, or even a lengthy stare directed towards a painting sometimes does not seem enough. During my visit to Rome in late 2012, I was enchanted by the three major Raphael panels on display in the Pinacoteca Vaticana. The Madonna di Foligno contains many fascinating details - from its cherubic clouds to its unique depiction of a Renaissance astronomical event. The following post explores some of these details.

Madonna di Foligno
Madonna of Foligno
c.1512
Pinacoteca Vaticana. inv. 329
Wood panel, canvas transfer
301 x 198 cm

Subject

A more accurate name for this painting would be the Madonna of Aracoeli, which would describe its original location, and explain its pictorial elements. The Church of Santa Maria Aracoeli in Rome was popularly described in the twelfth century text, the Mirabilia Urbis Romae. This church was founded on the site believed to be the location of the Tiburtine sibyl's vision, Ara Coeli denoting "Altar of Heaven" in Latin. The naming of this church after the altar is also described in the thirteenth century text known as Legenda Aurea (The Golden Legend), a popular textual source which informed artists depictions of religious subject matter.^[1]

The Madonna di Foligno was created for the Church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli.^[2] Its basic pictorial elements are consistent with a type known as a sacra conversazione (sacred conversation) - depicting a Madonna and Christ child surrounded by Saints.^[3] The depiction of the Madonna elevated above the ground and surrounded by angels is known as a Madonna in Glory.

The patron is identified as Sigismondo dei Conti (d. February 1512), who served as a state secretary to Pope Julius II from 1505.^[4] This identification stems from an inscription that was recorded on the frame by Sigismondo's grand-daughter, the abbess of SS Anna e Antonio nunnery in Foligno, which housed the painting after 1565. Sigismondo is identified as the kneeling figure in red, flanked by Saint Jerome and his attribute, the Lion. It has been proposed that the immediate juxtaposition of the Saint and the patron references their shared secretarial roles at the papal court in Rome (in Jerome’s case, a thousand years earlier).^[4] Some writers have argued that the inclusion of the portrait of Sigismondo was intended as a memorial, hence the circa 1512 date commonly assigned to this piece.^[5]

On the left, Saint John the Baptist can be identified, typically clothed in camel skin and holding a reed crucifix.^[6] In front of Saint John is the kneeling figure of Saint Francis.  The inclusion of Saints John and Francis venerating the Madonna is regarded as typical in altarpieces of this period, as Meyer zur Capellen clarifies:

The choice of Saints, for instance, indicates as its destination the church of S. Maria in Aracoeli, owned by the Franciscans, for whom the Mother of God, but also St Francis and St John the Baptist are of special significance.^[7]

The woman clothed with the sun

The Virgin is flanked by a large sun disc, a reference to the vision of the Tiburtine sybil described in the Legenda Aurea:

Then the Emperor sent for a prophetess named Sibyl, for to demand of her if there were any so great and like him in the earth, or if any should come after him. Thus at the hour of mid-day she beheld the heaven, and saw a circle of gold about the sun, and in the middle of the circle a maid holding a child in her arms.^[8]

The blank tablet

A putto holds a blank tablet (tabula ansata) in the lower centre of the painting, which was verified in the 1957 restoration as never having contained an inscription.^[9] Various authors have speculated on the meaning of this device, with interpretations ranging from a symbol of the patron's hope of salvation, to a sepulchral motif indicating the human soul.^[10,11]

click to enlarge

A meteorite?

Nineteenth century authors described a small background object depicted with a flame trailing behind it as an aerolite, or meteorite - theorising that the painting referred to an event affecting the patron. In an 1890 publication of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Edward S. Holden notes:

Its purely astronomical interest consists in the portryal of the fall of the aerolite itself, which occupies the centre of the picture.^[12]

Another explanation was offered by Professor H. A Newton, following up in 1891 on Holden’s notice the previous year. Newton cites a phenomenon reported in several contemporary sources:

On the 4th of September, 1511, in the second hour of the night, there fell on the banks of the Adda, near Crema, some leagues southeast of Milan, a number of stones [...] We may well question nearly all the details of all the accounts, but that many stones fell and some were carried to Milan and other cities, can hardly be doubted. It is, so far as I know, the only detonating meteor falling in Italy during several years preceding 1512, of which account has been preserved. I believe that Raphael meant to represent this Crema aerolite in his painting of the Foligno Madonna.^[13]

This object was also addressed by Schröter in 1987, emphasising that early sources do not mention that Sigismondo personally endured any form of bombardment or a lightning strike.^[14] Schröter further suggests that the object depicted was a comet, symbolic of plague or an impending disaster. This is refuted by Meyer zur Capellen, arguing that the bright palette of the work does not match the types of works commonly associated with plague.^[15]

Documentary Sources

The following dates, established by documentary sources, are relevant to this painting, tracing its history back to its initial placement in the Church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli:

Prior to 1544 Unknown via documentary sources

1544-1546  A short note in the Codice Magliabechiano, also known as the Anonimo Gaddiano is the earliest documentary reference to the Madonna di Foligno. It is the first known reference to Raphael as the author of the painting:

In Santa Maria in Aracoeli, there is the panel on the high altar by Raffaelo of Urbino, which is a beautiful thing and very well made.^[16]

1550 Giorgio Vasari describes this painting in the first edition of his Lives. This description focuses primarily on the subject matter.^[17]

1565  The panel is moved to the high altar of  SS Anna e Antonio in Foligno, by Sigismondo dei Conti's grand daughter - Sister Anna, who identifies Sigismondo dei Conti as the patron in an inscription on the frame:

This panel was painted at the behest of Messer

Gismondo Conti,

First Secretary to Julius II and it was painted

by the hand of Raffaello from Urbino, and Sister Anna Conti

Granddaughter of the said Messer Gismondo

had it brought

from Rome and had it placed on this altar in 1565

on the 23rd day of May.^[18]

1568/9 In the second edition of his Lives, Vasari describes this picure in largely the same terms as in 1550. If he was aware that the work had been moved from Rome to Foligno, he does not note this. ^[19]

1584 Raffaello Borghini offers a brief description of this picture in his Il Riposo. He notes that the altarpiece was painted for the church in Aracoeli, but also does not cite its new location in Foligno.:

He then painted the panel for the high altar in Aracoeli, wherein he made [a representation of] Our Lady up in the air with a beautiful landscape and some saints, [a work] which cannot be sufficiently praised.^[20]

17th century A source published by Mancini in 1998 establishes that Francesco I d'Este attempted to acquire the painting during this period, but was not successful.^[21]

1797 The panel is taken to Paris by Napoleonic forces.^[22]
1800-1801 The painted surface is transfer to canvas by Francois-Toussaint Hacquin, and restored by Matthias Roeser.^[23,24]
1815 Returned to Italy, installed in the Pinacoteca Vaticana.^[25]

Related drawings & influences

i. A chalk drawing of a corresponding Madonna and child exists at the British Museum - slight variations are observed in the position of the Christ child, with the final painted version showing his stepping away from the Virgin onto a cloud.

click to enlarge

ii. Madonna with child in front of a Glory. Städel Museum, Frankfurt.

 This drawing is not universally accepted a preparatory work for this painting, with Meyer zur Capellen noting "Although the subject is similar, positive correlations are too vague to be trusted."^[26]

The close relationship between the pose of the Christ child and the Michelangelo's Doni Tondo have also been noted by authors, most recently by Stefaniak.^[27]

Detail of Christ Child in Doni Tondo versus British Museum drawing and final version

The influence of Fra Bartolommeo

The image of a Madonna seated on clouds can be seen in earlier works including those by Perugino.  Conclusively determining Raphael's exposure to antecedent works remains difficult.

Observing modes of colour used, and the unique spatial relationships between the figures, Nagel (2012) describes a significant relationship between the Madonna of Foligno and two altarpieces by Fra Bartolommeo: 

a. The Vision of Saint Bernard (c.1504-7) 
b. The Vision of Saint Catherine (c.1508-9).

click to enlarge

This influence reverberated in other Raphael works, including the Madonna del Granduca and the famous Sistine Madonna. Commenting on the Madonna di Foligno, Nagel speculates:

It is little suprise then, to find Raphael still thinking about this painting [the Vision of Saint Bernard] in his Roman altarpieces. [...] It is if Raphael had turned the composition ninety degrees and placed the viewer in Bernard's position.^[28]

 Angel infused clouds in Fra Bartolommeo's Vision of Saint Catherine

The depiction of angelic bodies infused into clouds is a recurrent motif in Raphael's Roman works. The origin of this mode of depiction has been difficult to verify, and is attributed by some authors to Raphael's awareness of the Vision of Saint Catherine, as Nagel clarifies:

The highly innovative idea of a cloudscape made up of condensing angels, or rather a host of angels condensing into vaporizing cloud, was one that Raphael had seen in Fra Bartolommeo's Vision of Saint Catherine. ^[29]

Physical Properties

Original surface has been reported as wood, although the species of this has not been identified. McClellan provides a summary of the 1800 restoration and subsequent interventions by conservators.^[30]

Attribution History

The Codice Magliabechiano contains the earliest surviving mention of Raphael as the author of this work. This attribution has been accepted by subsequent commentators, with some authors suggesting workshop involvement for the background landscape elements.^[31]

In situ

The Madonna di Foligno is displayed at the Pinacotheca Vaticana near Raphael's earlier altarpiece,  the Coronation of the Virgin and his late masterpiece, the Transfiguration.  Viewed in context beside these works, it allows viewers to appreciate Raphael's stylistic evolution over the respective phases of his career.

Dedication
This post is dedicated to Sister Mo Alato for her kind support and encouragement.

Acknowledgements
3PP wishes to thank Dr. Edward Goldberg and Prof. Anatole Tchikine for their assistance.

References

1.  The Church of Aracoeli is named after the site of the vision appearing of the Tiburtine Sybil. An older,  succinct version of the legend is featured in a 6th century text attributed to John Malalas, the Ioannis Malalae Chronographia which the site as where the emperor received the vision.

a. From Mirabilis Urbis Romae. c.1130. A medieval guidebook of the marvels of Rome
De iussione Octaviani imperatoris et responsione Sibille.

Tempore Octaviani imperatoris, senatores videntes eum tante pulchritudinis quod nemo in oculos eius intueri poterat et tante prosperitatis et pacis quod totum mundum sibi tributarium fecerat, dicunt: "Te adorare volumus quia deitas est in te; si hoc non esset, non tibi omnia essent prospera". Qui renitens, indutias postulavit, ad se sibillam Tiburtinam vocavit, cui quod senatores dixerant recitavit. Que spatium trium dierum petiit, in quibus artum jejunium operata est. Post tertium diem respondit imperatori: "Hoc pro certo erit, domine imperator: Iudicii signum, tellus sudore madescet; e celo rex adveniet per secla futurus, scilicet in carne presens, ut judicet orbem" et cetera que secuntur. Ilico apertum est celum et nimius splendor irruit super eum; vidit in celo quandam pulcerrimam virginem stantem super altare, puerum tenentem in bracchiis. Miratus est nimis et vocem dicentem audivit: "Hec ara filii Dei est". Qui statim in terram procidens adoravit. Quam visionem retulit senatoribus et ipsi mirati sunt nimis. Hec visio fuit in camera Octaviani imperatoris, ubi nunc est ecclesia sancte Marie in Capitolio; idcirco dicta est Sancta Maria Ara celi. 

 source The Latin Library. Accessed February 2013 link

Translation from 
b. Mirabilis Urbis Romae - The Marvels of Rome. English version with notes by Francis Morgan Nichols. Ellis and Elvery. 1889. pp.35-38 online at archive.org link

Of the question of Octavian the emperor and the Sibyl's answer

In the time of the Emperor Octavian, the Senators, seeing him to be of so great beauty that no one could look into his eyes, and of so great prosperity and peace, that he made all the world render him tribute, said unto him: We desire to worship thee, because the godhead is in thee ; for if it were not so, all things would not prosper with thee as they do. But he, being loth, demanded a delay, and called unto him the Sibyl of Tibur, to whom he rehearsed all that the Senators had said. She begged for three days space, in which she kept a straight fast; and thus made answer to him after the third day: These things, sir emperor shall surely come to pass:

Token of doom l the Earth shall drip with sweat ;
From Heaven shall come the King for evermore,
And present in the flesh shall judge the world.

And the other verses that follow. And anon, whiles Octavian diligently hearkened to the Sibyl the heaven was opened, and a great brightness lighted up on him; and he saw in heaven a virgin, passing fair, standing upon an altar, and holding a man-child in her arms, whereof he marveled exceedingly ; and he heard a voice from heaven saying, This is the Virgin that shall conceive the Saviour of the World. And again he heard another voice from heaven saying, "This is the altar of the Son of God." The emperor straight away fell to the ground, and worshiped the Christ that should come. This vision he showed to the Senators, and they in like wise marveled exceedingly. The vision took place in the chamber of the emperor Octavian, where now is the church of Saint Mary in the Capitol. Therefore it is called Saint Mary in ara coeli.

Upon another day, when the people had decreed to call him Lord, he forthwith stayed them with hand and look, neither did he suffer to be called Lord even by his sons, saying: "Mortal I am, and will not call me Lord.

c. From the Legenda Aurea. Excerpt from Volume 1: The Nativity of Christ. English translation via William Caxton. 1483. Temple Classics version edited by FS Ellis 1900. online source link

Also Octavian the Emperor, like as Innocent recordeth, that he was much desired of his council and of his people, that he should do men worship him as God. For never had there been before him so great a master and lord of the world as he was. Then the Emperor sent for a prophetess named Sibyl, for to demand of her if there were any so great and like him in the earth, or if any should come after him. Thus at the hour of mid-day she beheld the heaven, and saw a circle of gold about the sun, and in the middle of the circle a maid holding a child in her arms. Then she called the Emperor and shewed it him. When Octavian saw that he marvelled over much, whereof Sibyl said to him: "Hic puer major te est, ipsum adora": This child is greater lord than thou art, worship him. Then when the Emperor understood that this child was greater lord than he was, he would not be worshipped as God, but worshipped this child that should be born. Wherefore the christian men made a church of the same chamber of the Emperor, and named it Ara coeli.

2. Meyer zur Capellen, J. Raphael - The Paintings. (Trans. Polter, S.) Vol. 2. Arcos Verlag. 2005. pp. 98-106.  Provides a succinct summary of references, particularly of articles in German pertaining to the church of Santa Marcia in Aracoeli, and their discussion of where the altarpiece panel was originally placed. It is generally believed that it was created for the high alter of  this church, although this notion has been contested by some authors, arguing that it may have been placed behind the high altar of Sigismondo dei Conti's tomb. Gardner von Teuffel 1987 established that the space allocated for the patron's tomb would not have been sufficient to house the panel.

references cited

i. Blauuw, S. Das Hochaltarretabel in Rom bis zum fruhen 16. Jahrundert: Das Altarbild als Kategorie der liturhischen Anlage. In: Mededelingen van het Nederlands Institut te Rome. 55. 1996. pp.1983-110.

ii. Gardner von Teuffel, C. Raffaels Romische Altarbilder: Aufstellung und Bestimmung. Zeitschrift fur Kunstgeschicte. 50. 1987.  pp.1-45. 

iii. Heidemann, JEL. The Cinquecento Chapel Decorations in S. Maria in Aracoeli in Rome. Amsterdam. 1998.

3. Murray, P & L. The Oxford Companion to Christian Art and Architecture. Oxford University Press. p. 461 provides a succinct description of the Sacra Conversazione picture type:

Sacra Conversazione (Ital. holy conversation). One of the most popular forms of Madonna and Child with Saints. It may be seen in the evolution of groups of saints and angels around the Enthroned Madonna in the work of Giotto and his followers, but is really established in 15th century Florence (Fra Angelico, Domenico, Veneziano, Fra Filippo Lippi). In earlier polyptychs the individual saints occupied separate panels, usually with gold backgrounds. The basic notion of a Sacra Conversazione is a single space, a room or a landscape, in which several saints, donors, or angels, are grouped together around the Madonna and Child—some talking, some gesturing, but usually all aware of the presence of Christ and of each other, though in some of Bellini's large altarpieces the figures are more meditative and detached. The type has been popular ever since, and was soon perfected by Giovanni Bellini, Piero della Francesca, Titian, and Raphael.

4. Entry for Sigismondo dei Conti at L'Enciclopedia Italiana. Online at Treccani. Accessed February 2013. link ; Sigismondo's occupation is also mentioned in the 1565 inscription (see 18).

5. Jones, P and Penny, N. Raphael. Yale University Press.1983.  p.88

6.  Murray, P&L. As cited above. pp. 253-254.

...single figures show him as an emaciated man with wild hair and beard, clad in skins [...] In the West he usually holds a reed cross, which sometimes has a scroll attached reading Ecce Agnus Dei (Behold the Lamb of God), which is what he said to John and Andrew (John 1: 356), or Ego vox clamantis in deserto (I am a voice crying in the wilderness), recalling the prophecy of Isaiah (40: 3; John 1: 23).

7. Meyer zur Capellen (2005) also notes that the Virgin is depicted in front of a sun in two other places in the Church if Santa Maria in Aracoeli. For more on depictions of the Virgin in this church, see Gardner von Teuffel (1987) in extended annotation for 1.

8. Legenda Aurea. Vol. 1.  As cited above. See Extended Annotation 1c.

9. McClellan, A. Raphael's Foligno Madonna at the Louvre in 1800: Restoration and Reaction at he Dawn of the Museum Age. Art Journal. Vol. 54.No. 2. Conservation and Art History. 1995. pp. 80-85. JSTOR link

10. Lindemann, BW. "Was soll dieser nackte Knabe da mit seinem Täfelchen?" und andere Probleme der Deutung von Raffaels Madonna di Foligno. Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte. 46. Bd. H.3. 1983. pp. 307-312. JSTOR link

11. Schröter, E. Raffaels Madonna di Foligno. Ein Pestbild? Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte. 50. Bd., H. 1. 1987. pp. 46-87
JSTOR Link

12.  Holden, E.S. Contributions of Raphael and of Albrecht Dürer to Astronomy. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Vol. 2. No. 6. January 25, 1890. pp. 19-21. JSTOR link

This short article contains two paragraphs referring to Raphael's "contribution to astronomy":

It may not be known to all that Raphael's Madonna di Foligno has a special interest to astronomers. It is, I believe, the only painting of any note which commemorates an astronomical event. This picture was painted by Raphael in 1511, and placed in the Church of Ara-Coeli, as a votive offering from Sigismund Conti, secretary to Pope Julius II, for his miraculous escape from death by an aerolite. The picture was removed to the Convent of Foligno in 1565 by a niece of Conti's, and was carried off by the French in 1792. It was returned in 1815 and is now in the Vatican. Such is a brief sketch of the wanderings of this exquisite painting. Its purely astronomical interest consists in the portrayal of the fall of the aerolite itself, which occupies the centre of the picture. The drawing must have been made by Raphael from the personal ac- count of Conti (who was living in 15 12), and, therefore, it has even a certain scientific value.

It does not seem to be superfluous to call attention to this item of history, which lends a slight additional interest to one of the world's great pictures. I have presented a good photograph of this painting to the Astronomical Society's library.

13. Newton, H.A. The Fireball in Raphael's Madonna di Foligno. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Vol. 3. No. 15. March 28, 1891. pp. 91-95. JSTOR Link

14. Schröter, E. As cited above.

15. Meyer zur Capellen, J. 2005. As cited above.

16. Shearman, J. Raphael in Early Modern Sources.Yale University Press. 2002. Vol. 2. pp. 944-945. Transcribes the Codice Magliabechiano in Italian. 

In Santa Maria Araceli v'è la tavola dell'altare maggiore di Raffaelo da Urbino, cosa bella e molto ben fatta.

Source BNCF. MS Magl. XVII, 17 fols. 99r-106v - with the Madonna di Foligno reference being on page 101r. English translation for this entry provided by Dr. Edward Goldberg.

17. Vasari, G. Le vite de piu eccellenti architetti, pittori, et scvltori italiani. 1550. Torrentiniana. Florence. Vol.3. pp. 649-650. Transcribed by Fondazione Memofonte March 2006. pp.316-331 link

Poi, stimolato da’ prieghi d’un cameriere di papa Giulio, dipinse la tavola dello altar maggiore di Araceli, nella quale fece una Nostra Donna in aria con un paese bellissimo, un San Giovanni et un San Francesco, e San Girolamo ritratto da cardinale; nella qual Nostra Donna è una umiltà e modestia veramente da madre di Cristo, et il Putto è con bella attitudine scherzando col manto della Madonna. Conoscesi nella figura di San Giovanni quella penitenza che [650] suole fare il digiuno, e nella testa si scorge una sincerità d’animo et una prontezza di sicurtà, come in coloro che lontani dal mondo lo sbeffano, e nel praticare il publico odiano la bugia e dicono la verità. Simile è nel San Girolamo, che ha una testa elevata con gli occhi alla Nostra Donna, tutta contemplativa, ne’ quali par che ci accenni tutta quella dottrina e sapienzia che egli scrivendo mostrò ne le sue carte, offerendo con ambe le mani il cameriero e par che egli lo raccomandi: il quale nel suo ritratto è non men vivo che si sia dipinto.

Né mancò Rafaello fare il medesimo nella figura di San Francesco, il quale ginoc[c]hioni in terra, con un braccio steso e con la testa elevata, guarda in alto la Nostra Donna, ardendo di carità nello affetto della pittura, la quale nel lineamento e nel colorito mostra che e’ si strugga di affezzione, pigliando conforto e vita dal mansuetissimo guardo della bellezza di lei e da la vivezza e bellezza del Figliuolo. Fecevi Rafaello un putto ritto in mezzo della tavola, sotto la Nostra Donna, che alza la testa verso lei e tiene uno epitaffio, che di bellezza di volto e di corrispondenza della persona non si può fare né più grazioso né meglio, oltre che v’è un paese che in tutta perfezzione è singulare e bellissimo.

18.  Shearman, J. 2003. As cited above. p.1117 for full bibliography of this inscription, which was first described in 1750 report of the Sacra Visita Bishop Mario Antonio Maffei. Shearman describes Sister Anna as Sigismondo's grand daughter, whereas Meyer zur Capellen states she was his niece.

QVESTA TAVOLA LA FECE DIPINGERE MISSERE

GISMONDO CONTI

SECRERTARIO PRIMO DI GIVLIO SECONDO ET  E DIPINTA

PER MANO DI RAPHAELE DE VRBINO ET SORA ANNA CONTI

NEPOTE DEL DITO MESSERE GISMONDO

L'A FACTA PORTARE

DA ROME ET FACTA METTER A QVESTO ALTARE NEL 1565

A DI 23 MAGGIO

19.  Vasari, G. Le vite de piu eccellenti architetti, pittori, et scvltori italiani. 1568/9. Giuntina Florence. pp. 73-74. Transcribed by Fondazione Memofonte March 2006. pp. link

Poi, stimolato da’ prieghi d’un cameriere di papa Giulio, dipinse la tavola dello altar maggiore di Araceli, nella quale fece una Nostra Donna in aria con un paese bellissimo, un San Giovanni et un San Francesco, e San Girolamo ritratto da cardinale; nella qual Nostra Donna è una umiltà e modestia veramente da madre di Cristo, et oltre che il Putto con bella attitudine scherza col manto della Madre, si conosce nella figura del San Giovanni quella penitenza che suole fare il digiuno, e nella testa si scorge una sincerità d’animo et una prontezza di sicurtà, come in coloro che lontani dal mondo lo sbeffano, e nel praticare il publico odiano la bugia e dicono la verità. Similmente il San Girolamo ha la testa elevata con gli occhi alla Nostra Donna, tutta contemplativa, ne’ quali par che ci accenni tutta quella dottrina e sapienzia che egli scrivendo mostrò nelle sue carte, offerendo con ambe le mani il cameriero in atto di raccomandarlo: il qual cameriero nel suo ritratto è non men vivo che si sia dipinto.

Né mancò Raffaello fare il medesimo nella figura di San Francesco, il quale ginocchioni in terra, con un braccio steso e con la testa elevata, guarda in alto la Nostra Donna, ardendo di carità nello affetto della pittu [II. 74] ra, la quale nel lineamento e nel colorito mostra che e’ si strugga di affezzione, pigliando conforto e vita dal mansuetissimo guardo della bellezza di lei e dalla vivezza e bellezza del Figliuolo. Fecevi Raffaello un putto ritto in mezzo della tavola, sotto la Nostra Donna, che alza la testa verso lei e tiene uno epitaffio, che di bellezza di volto e di corrispondenza della persona non si può fare né più grazioso né meglio, oltre che v’è un paese che in tutta perfezzione è singulare e bellissimo.

English translation by DeVere, published 1996 Knopf edition with notes by Ekserdjian. 

Next, spurred by the entreaties of a Chamberlain of Pope Julius, he painted the panel for the high-altar of the Araceli, wherein he made a Madonna in the sky, with a most beautiful landscape, a S. John, a S. Francis, and a S. Jerome represented as a Cardinal; in which Madonna may be seen a humility and a modesty truly worthy of the Mother of Christ; and besides the beautiful gesture of the Child as He plays with His Mother's hand, there is revealed in S. John that penitential air which fasting generally gives, while his head displays the sincerity of soul and frank assurance appropriate to those who live away from the world and despise it, and, in their dealings with mankind, make war on falsehood and speak out the truth. In like manner, the S. Jerome has his head uplifted with his eyes on the Madonna, deep in contemplation; and in them seem to be suggested all the learning and knowledge that he showed in his writings, while with both his hands he is presenting the Chamberlain, in the act of recommending him to her; which portrait of the Chamberlain is as lifelike as any ever painted. Nor did Raffaello fail to do as well in the figure of S. Francis, who, kneeling on the ground, with one arm outstretched, and with his head upraised, is gazing up at the Madonna, glowing with a love in tone with the feeling of the picture, which, both by the lineaments and by the colouring, shows him melting with affection, and taking comfort and life from the gracious sight of her beauty and of the vivacity and beauty of her Son. In the middle of the panel, below the Madonna, Raffaello made a little boy standing, who is raising his head towards her and holding an inscription: than whom none better or more graceful could be painted, what with the beauty of his features and the proportionate loveliness of his person. And in addition there is a landscape, which is singularly beautiful in its absolute perfection.

20. Shearman. J. As cited above. p. 1325. Cites Raffaello Borghini's Il Riposo. 1584. p.389

Dipinse poi la tavola dell'Altar maggiore in Araceli nella quale fece una Nostra Donna in aria con un paese bellissimo et alcuni santi, che non si può mai lodarla a bastanza,

21. Mancini, G. Sulla tracce di u Raffaello per la galleria di Francesco I. In: Bertuzzi, G. (ed) Deputazione di Storia Patria per le antiche provincie modensesi. Biblioteca, new ser. 152: Aedes Muratoriana. Modena 1998. p.153.

22-25. McClellan, A. As cited above

26. Meyer zur Capellen, J. As cited above.

27.  Stefaniak. Mysterium Magnum. Michelangelo's Tondo Doni. Brill.2008. pp.138-140. Explores the influence of Michelangelo's famous Tondo on Raphael's work. Stefaniak's essays on this piece were also consulted, each providing insights into the patron (dei Conti) and his role in Julius II's court, in relation to thematic content seen in the altarpiece.

i. Raphael's Madonna di Foligno: Vergine Bella. Konsthistorisk tidskrift/Journal of Art History. Vol. 69, Iss. 3-4, 2000. (link)

ii. Raphael's Madonna di Foligno: Civitas sancta, Hierusalem nova. Konsthistorisk tidskrift/Journal of Art History. Vol. 69, Iss. 2, 2000. (link)

28-29. Nagel, A. The Controversy of Renaissance Art. University of Chicago Press. 2011. See. p.74-86, particularly the sections The Painter's New Profession and Raphael Extracts the Icon, which account for a more recent account of Fra Bartolommeo's influence on Raphael.

30. McClellan, A. As cited above.

Also, 1961 Restoration details outlined in: Redig de Campos, D. Madonna di Foligno di Raffaello. Note sulla storia e i suoi restauri. Miscellanie. Bibliothecae Hertzianae zu ehren von Leo Bruhns, Franz Graff Wolff von Metternich, Ludwig Schudt. Romische Forschungen der Bibliotheca Hertziana. 16. 1961. pp.1845-1897.

31. For attribution history up to 1971 See Dussler, L. Raphael - A Critical Catalogue of his Pictures, Wall-Paintings and Tapestries. Phaidon. 1971. pp. 31-32.  Accessed online at raffael-projekt. p. 31 (link) p.32 (link). nb. No contest to attribution listed.

Image Notes
HQ image on  Flickr courtesy of Pertus Agricola (link)