THE TEMPLE | RAPHAEL | 2021

Like so many Italian Renaissance artists, Raphael was deeply interested in architecture. Throughout his work we encounter a sublime sense of space, illustrated by an uncanny ability to present a stage naturalistic and real, yet imbued with a mystical air.

Everything in the scene is precise and perfectly rendered, but humanly so.

We are scarcely aware that the gentle rhythmic lines of the pavement are drawing us in.

Vasari himself wrote:

"There is a temple drawn in perspective with such evident care that it is marvelous to behold the difficulty of the problems which he has set himself to solve."

We are privileged to be here, to have arrived early on the empty plaza, before a crowd appears... to view The Temple.