2 New Raphael Paintings Discovered

Even 500 years after the deaths of the Renaissance masters, their works can still surprise us. They are often hiding in plain sight until restorers rediscover them. The latest case involves 2 oil paintings discovered at the Vatican Museums a few days ago. The paintings were right where they were supposed to be; we simply didn't know about them until now. And they were no ordinary paintings. German art historian Arnold Nesselrath says they are undoubtedly of higher quality than the works found in the same room.

Restoration work at the Vatican Museums began in March 2015 and was scheduled to be completed later that year. The work also took place in the Hall of Constantine, where two new works were found. The hall takes its name from the subject depicted on its walls. The great maestro did not live to finish the walls, as his untimely death prevented him from doing so. His students completed them according to his sketches, depicting scenes from the life of Emperor Constantine the Great. Even so, the two works discovered suggest that Raphael did manage to complete something himself.

Restorer Fabio Piacentini confirmed that there is now no doubt that the two allegorical figures on the wall are by Raphael himself. One represents Friendship, and the other Justice. Piacentini says the paintings were created using the technique of oil painting on a wall, a very unusual and distinctive technique. The restorers began cleaning and noticed the precision of the strokes, characteristic of the maestro. The beautiful brush strokes and shading from green to blue are especially visible on the clothing of one of the allegorical figures. Raphael also had a special “hot” technique: he applied a thick layer of natural resin while it was warm, and once dry, it behaved like canvas.

Rafael was an artist who liked to experiment and try new techniques. Arnold Nesselrath says that it is known that Rafael wanted to create the entire Hall of Constantine using the technique mentioned above, but unfortunately, he lived only long enough to complete these two paintings. The rest was done in the traditional way.

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known simply as Rafael, is one of the three great Renaissance masters, alongside Michelangelo and Leonardo. He was incredibly productive and left behind a large body of work, despite dying at the age of 37. Most of his works are in the Vatican Palace, and his work there represents the central and most important part of his output.

The Hall of Constantine is one of the rooms Pope Julius II hired the then-young Rafael to decorate. These rooms were to serve as the pope’s reception rooms, and the extraordinary works on their walls are as valuable as Michelangelo’s paintings in the Sistine Chapel, which is nearby. It is believed that the pope wanted the young artist’s works to overshadow those commissioned by his predecessor, Pope Alexander VI. Interestingly, both the pope and the maestro died before it was time to paint the Hall of Constantine. Its walls depict the triumph of Christianity over paganism, but the hall itself is less popular than the others for the simple reason that it is known to have been painted by pupils rather than the maestro. This new discovery could change that.