‘Galatea’ by Raphael, 1511 (Mythological in Rome)

when was it painted?

1511

other then Galatea who else is depicted?

Ichthyocentaur (who are part man, part horse and part fish), another goddess and putti

what medium is it made from?

Fresco Buon

who was it commissioned by?

Commissioned by Agostino Chigi, a wealthy Sieniese (from Sienna) banker and also advised the Pope (Julius II)

where was it placed?

To decorate Agostino’s country retreat on the outskirts of Rome, The Villa Farnesina, to escape the heat and the plague

beside this fresco there is also…

another fresco of Polyphemus (the cyclops) by Sebastiano di Piombo showing the other half of the story (e.g. The cyclops sings to Galatea as he has fallen in love with her, her head is turned towards him as she moves away from him being pulled by dolphins on a shell, with a propeller attached, attention to the scientific

who is the mythological story told by?

Poliziano

describe the composition?

The apex being her head in pyramidal composition, there is also an inverted pyramidal scale with the putti above creating a cross

how is the narrative read?

The narrative is read through gaze and gesture

what scientific observations are made?

• Attention to atmospheric perspective

• Weird but brilliant observations of the natural world e.g. the octopus in the mouth of the dolphin, in the process of turning pale from fright

there is harmony through…

colour and echoed forms

marked as high renaissance due to…

torsion and twisting dramatic forms

there is physical plasticity explored through…

through colour rather than tone e.g. the foreshortening of her knee

what stirres the composuition?

Putti stir the composition, chaotic but ordered, circular movement relative to the images of water and the sea

how does Baldassare show his interest in Neo-Platonism?

Baldassare complimented Raphael on Galatea's beauty, to which Raphael responded in order to paint such beauty, you either have to see many different beautiful women and take parts of them and put them together or you conjure an idea of ideal beauty