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. One such case involves two oil paintings discovered during restoration work at the Vatican Museums. The paintings had been in plain view all along; no one had recognized them for what they were. And they were no ordinary paintings. German art historian Arnold Nesselrath says they are undoubtedly of higher quality than the other works in the same room.

Restoration work at the Vatican Museums began in March 2015 and was scheduled to be completed later that year. The restoration also covered the Hall of Constantine, where the two works were found. The hall takes its name from the subject depicted on its walls. The great master did not live to finish the walls; his untimely death prevented him. His students completed them according to his sketches, depicting scenes from the life of Emperor Constantine the Great. Even so, the two newly discovered works 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 made in oil directly on the wall, a very unusual and distinctive technique. When the restorers began cleaning, they noticed the precision of the strokes, characteristic of the master. 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.

Raphael was an artist who liked to experiment and try new techniques. Arnold Nesselrath says that it is known that Raphael 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 Raphael, 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. Many of his works are in the Vatican Palace, and they form 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 Raphael 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 frescoes in the nearby Sistine Chapel. 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 master 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 master. This new discovery could change that.