In Tracing the Visual Language of Raphaelâs Circle to 1527, Alexis Culotta examines how the Renaissance masterâs style â one infused with borrowed visual quotations from other artists both past and present â proved influential in his relationship with associate Baldassare Peruzzi and in the development of the artists within his thriving workshop.
Shedding new light on the important, yet often-overshadowed, figures within this network, this book calls upon key case studies to convincingly illustrate how this visual language and its recombination evolved during Raphaelâs Roman career and subsequently served as a springboard for artistic innovation for these close associates as they collaborated in the years following Raphaelâs death.
Alexis R. Culotta, Ph.D. (2014), University of Washington, is a lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Other publications on Raphaelâs circle include her recent chapter in Breaking with Convention in Italian Visual Culture (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017).
âDespite the vast literature on it, the operation and importance of Raphaelâs workshop is still much debated and little understood. This study restores agency and interest in artists and works of art that have long been little considered or overshadowed by Raphael himself. The author demonstrates that Raphael (1483â1520) developed a style of ârecombinationââ infused with visual quotations from ancient and contemporaneous artistsâthat proved influential in the development of a shared visual language among members of his entourage. Case studies illustrate how this shared, collaborative style evolved during Raphaelâs lifetime and was perpetuated by members of the workshop in the years immediately following the artistâs death.â
W. E. Wallace, Washington University, in CHOICE Connect, a publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries, Volume 58, issue 10
Acknowledgments List of Illustrations
Introduction
â1âReclaiming Raphaelâs Workshop
â2âMechanics of a Visual Language: Imitation/Emulation/Repetition/Recombination
â3âRecombination in Light of Competition and Collaboration
â4âRevisiting Recombination within the Workshop
â5âContinuing the Conversation
1 Origins of a Visual Language
â1âThe Prevalent Language of the Classical
â2âThe Visual Language of the Papacy
â3âThe Visual Language of Raphael
â4âThe Language of Recombination in the Stanza della Segnatura
2 Visual Language through the Lens of Competition at the Villa Farnesina
â1âCommissions from Agostino Chigi
â2âRaphael, Sebastiano, and Competition
3 Collaborative Practice and Emerging Workshop Mentalities
â1âPartnering with Peruzzi
â2âRaphaelâs Workshop Takes Form
â3âThe Capstone of Chigiâs Villa
â4âRevisiting the âRaphael Roomsâ
â5âThe Stanza dellâIncendio
â6âThe Vatican Loggie
â7âSala di Costantino
â8âBeyond the Vatican
4 Giovanni da Udine, Perino del Vaga, and Polidoro da Caravaggio, at the Palazzo Baldassini
â1âMelchiorre Baldassini (1470â1522)
â2âSangalloâs Designs
â3âGiovanni da Udine and the Quotation of Antiquity
â4âPerino del Vaga, Polidoro da Caravaggio, and the Piano Nobile
5 Giulio Romano, Gianfrancesco Penni, and Polidoro da Caravaggio at the Villa Lante al Gianicolo
â1âBaldassarre Turini (1486â1543)
â2âA Challenge of Attribution and Dating
â3âGiulioâs Designs
â4âThe Lateral Sale
â5âThe Grand Salone
6 Polidoro da Caravaggio and Maturino da Firenze from the Frescoed Facade to the Fetti Chapel
â1âFra Mariano Fetti (d. 1531)
â2âA Complicated History
â3âPeruzzi, Polidoro, and Painted Illusion
â4âIllusions of Landscape in the Fetti Chapel
7 Santa Maria Della Pace and a Pastiche by Peruzzi
â1âFilippo Sergardi (1466â1541)
â2âA Pastiche of Figures
â3âA Pastiche of Architecture
Epilogue
Bibliography Index
All interested in Raphael as well as the key figures discussed (Peruzzi, Giulio, Penni, da Udine, Perino, and Polidoro); also anyone investigating visual exchange, workshop practice, or the specific projects noted in sixteenth-century Rome (e.g., the Palazzo Baldassini, the Villa Lante al Gianicolo, the Fetti Chapel or work in Santa Maria della Pace). Keywords: Raphael, Peruzzi, Giulio Romano, Gianfrancesco Penni, Giovanni da Udine, Perino del Vaga, Polidoro da Caravaggio, Sebastiano del Piombo, Renaissance, Rome, workshop, collaboration, competition, sixteenth century.