Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints

Raphael painted this altarpiece around 1504, for the convent of Sant'Antonio da Padova in Perugia. He was 21, still working in the workshop of Perugino, and this is one of the last paintings he made before leaving Umbria for Florence. The Virgin sits on a wooden throne at the center, holding the Christ child on her knee. Four saints stand on either side: Saints Peter, Paul, Catherine, and John the Baptist, each identifiable by their attributes. Above, a semicircular lunette shows God the Father blessing the scene below. The composition is symmetrical, formal, and still. The figures are calm, their faces composed, their gestures measured. Raphael had been in Perugino's workshop since his early teens, learning the balanced compositions and sweet figures that Perugino sold to churches across Umbria. This altarpiece shows that training clearly: the symmetry, the soft modeling, the gentle expressions. But Raphael was already moving past his teacher. The figures have more weight and volume than Perugino's, and the architectural setting is more ambitious, with a deep coffered apse behind the throne that opens to a luminous sky. The painting is sometimes called the Colonna Altarpiece, after the family that commissioned it. It was cut down and separated into pieces at some point in its history. The main panel and the lunette survived and came to the Met through J. Pierpont Morgan, who gave them to the museum in 1916. The predella panels were scattered; three are in other museums. Oil and gold on wood, 172 by 172 centimeters, roughly 68 by 68 inches, nearly square. Raphael used oil paint, still a relatively new medium in central Italy, over a traditional gesso ground. The gold background behind the throne is gold leaf, applied in the medieval manner. The figures are modeled in soft, thin layers of oil, building up the flesh tones with careful gradations of light and shadow. The surface is polished and smooth, with no visible brushwork. The square format and devotional subject make this print work well in a living room or dining room with traditional furniture. The gold background pairs well with warm wood tones and cream walls. A gold frame continues the painting's gilding. The 16x20 or 18x24 size gives the figures and the architectural detail enough room to read. The painting entered the Met's collection in 1916, a gift from J. Pierpont Morgan. It is on view in the European Paintings galleries. This is a public domain artwork (CC0), scanned from the original at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We print it on archival matte paper at sizes from 8x10 to 18x24 inches, framed or unframed. The image is printed at full resolution with no cropping.