The Supreme Picture of the World

The "Sistine Madonna" is now considered the supreme picture of the world; though for centuries such honor was given to the "Transfiguration," and, in subject, the latter still holds first place. But no pictorial creation goes abroad over the world, in copies, so frequently or so far as the "Madonna de San Sisto" or Raphael's "Sistine Madonna." According to an Italian legend the whole picture was revealed in a dream to Raphael in answer to his prayers for divine aid, and the Madonna in this work transcends all other types as much as the Venus de Milo all other statues of "the goddess of beauty." Whether the legend be true or not, the "Sistine Madonna" was the result of a sudden inspiration. Not one preparatory sketch has been discovered, though two hundred and eighty-seven first drafts have been found of his other works. It was painted for the Black Friar Monks of the San Sisto Monastery in Piacenza, a small town in the northwestern Papal Dominions, about 1515 or 1518--so the painting is nearly four hundred years old. For centuries this masterpiece attracted little attention, but in 1712 Prince Augustus of Saxony, a boy of sixteen, saw the picture on an Italian tour and fell in love with it. It was his ideal of the Mother Mary and her Holy Child, and he was determined to possess this treasure. He came to the throne of Saxony, but it was not until 1753 that he felt able to make this jewel his own. It remained in possession of the Monks of San Sisto until 1753, when Augustus III. sent his agent to purchase it. It cost him $45,000, but the government has since been offered $1,000,000, yet it is not for sale at any price. From 1753 Dresden dates her birth as an art center; from that date, or from the advent of the "Sistine Madonna" within her walls, Dresden has been a Mecca for the art world. Even Napoleon respected Dresden's right to hold it, so that it was not removed to Paris. Yet its beauties had been greatly obscured by its being put into a frame too small for it, and the top of the canvas folded back. It had also been marred by smoke from the alter candles. In 1826 Palmarolil, the most famous Roman restorer, waked the "Sistine Madonna" to newness of life. He found the canvas worn so thin that the picture must soon perish. Yet the paint, layer upon layer, was so thick that he adroitly removed the old canvas and safely glued the painting upon a new base. He was also successful in removing the grime and smoke without attempting to recolor it. So the "Sistine" stands before us in its pristine glory. There are fifty rooms in the Dresden Gallery averaging about forty pictures each, but the "San Sistine" has a room to itself. It is handsomely furnished with richly upholstered wall sofas; the only other art-work in the room is a bust of Raphael. The figures are life size, the Madonna five and one-half feet; the canvas is eight feet high by six and one-half feet wide. The frame is of grey oak, heavily panelled and richly carved. The central group, "God's best gift to man vouchsafed in God's best way," is worthily attended. We behold the heavenly vision as through a window; above is an awning curtain drawn apart, and below the balustrade of a balcony. In the dim background "is a multitude of the heavenly host;" on one side an aged and on the other a youthful worshipper, and below two cherubs in full view. We look upon it as the divine advent--the Virgin Mother bringing down the Christ-Child from heaven to earth. This is the soul of the picture; all else are accessories. In this picture of the Madonna all ages are represented. And tradition says that "A prayer uttered in the presence of the 'Sistine Madonna' is always answered."