Raphael Sanzio, Florence 1515
(ICONOGRAPHIC SHIFT)

Indices and proofs of Raphael’s presence in Florence in 1515 

CLUES AND EVIDENCE PRESENTED IN OUR ARTICLE « LES ENTRÉES “TRIOMPHALES” À MILAN, FLORENCE ET BOLOGNE EN 1515 : LES ARTISTES ITALIENS AU SERVICE DE LÉON X ET DE FRANÇOIS Iᵉʳ » 
BY LAURE CHEVALIER AND PAULINE DESCHAMPS-KAHN 

[Below]
PhotoRaphael’s Presence in Florence vs Rome (1515-1516)




Evidence and Indications

  • Archival mentions (Carte Strozziane, ASF)
  Two occurrences of the name "Raffaello da Urbino" appear in the Lista de la casa del illustrissimo signor Giuliano de’ Medici (Household list of Giuliano de’ Medici, lord of Florence) for 1515, one of them dated 28 April 1515 and countersigned by Giuliano. Reference: Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Carte Strozziane, s. I, f. 10, fol. 178v, 179v.

  • Façade of San Lorenzo (commission of Leo X, 1515)
  Pope Leo X commissioned Raphael to "design the façade of San Lorenzo"; a « copy »  (Uffizi, U 2048A) of the now-lost drawing is mentioned. The complexity of the project implies Raphael’s physical presence on site (late 1515 – early 1516).

  • Testimonies from contemporaries and later sources
  1.   Vasari (Life of Michelangelo): Leo X, at his entry into Florence (30 November 1515, not 3 September), summoned Raphael to design the façade of San Lorenzo.
  2. Baccio Bandinelli, letter of 7 Dec. 1547: “His Holiness sent to Florence Raphael of Urbino and Buonarroti” to settle the façade issue.
  3. Quatremère de Quincy (1825) confirms that "Leo X brought Michelangelo and Raphael" to Florence.
  These accounts support Raphael’s effective presence in Florence at the end of 1515.

  • Florentine architectural programs at the same time
  1.  Palazzo Pandolfini: documents published by C. L. Frommel date the "start of construction to February 1516", suggesting Raphael was "on site" to launch and supervise the building.
  2. The debated attribution of plans for the Ugoccioni Palace is also linked to this Florentine stay.
 
  • Context of the 1515 festivities
  The Solemn entry of Leo X into Florence (30 November 1515) triggered a large-scale program of pageantry and ephemeral architecture. Our article stresses that this event was "a major incentive" for the presence of leading artists (including Raphael), who were called upon to design and coordinate these artistic and architectural displays.

  • Arguments from “absence in Rome”
  1.   In Rome, during late 1515–early 1516, several projects (e.g. the Fire in the Borgo, the loggetta and stufetta of Cardinal Bibbiena) appear to have been executed mainly by Raphael’s assistants (Giulio Romano, Penni, Giovanni da Udine), which corroborates the idea of his temporary absence.
  2.   A notarial act of 8 November 1515 (Raphael’s purchase of a house) was signed by proxy (Raimondi), further indicating that Raphael was not in Rome on that date.

CONCLUSION
Taken together—archival records in Florence, testimonies (Vasari, Bandinelli), architectural commissions (San Lorenzo, Pandolfini), and documented “silences” in Rome—these elements make it very probable that Raphael was indeed present in Florence at the end of 1515 and the beginning of 1516.
See pp. 285-288 of the original article (below).

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« Les entrées “triomphales” à Milan, Florence et Bologne en 1515 : les artistes italiens au service de Léon X et de François Iᵉʳ » 
​by Laure Chevalier and Pauline Deschamps-Kahn was published in the scientific journal : 

Publications du Centre européen d’Études bourguignonnes, numéro 64, dans le volume collectif intitulé Écclésiastiques, intellectuels et artistes au service du prince, en pays bourguignons et italiens (XIVᵉ–XVIᵉ siècles), sous la direction d’Alain Marchandisse et Gilles Docquier, en 2024, pages 271–288 ([crenum.elan-numerique.fr]).




Revision of La Madonna dei garofani and other Florentine works (1515–1516)
Federico Barocci, Study of the torso and left leg of the Child for Raphael's Madonna of the Carnations - Chatron
[La Madonna dei garofani]. Florence, Galerie degli Uffizi. Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle stampe, Inv. 11530 F recto.
Photo



This drawing by Barocci, based on a study by Raphael, is consistent with the master's intermediate project, wich correspond to a very advanced stage of pictorial execution close to the final version of The Madonna of the Carnations - Chatron [La Madonna dei garofani] - also known as "Madonna of the Pinks"]: Raphael used a subterfuge, the sprigs of carnations, to mask two old contour lines on the back of the Child. Originally, the position and volume of the Child's body were different, as confirmed by scientific imaging of The Madonna of the Carnations - Chatron [La Madonna dei garofani].
Federico Barocci's drawing shows the same changes of those observed in the scientific images, corresponding to different stages in the execution of Raphael's pictorial project.
In the final stage of his painting, the master from Urbino used copper-laden shadow to conceal the Child's genital area and the lead-white of the cushion to opaque it, to meet the new dogmatic requirements attached to the Conception of the Virgin Mary and its representations [Decree of condemnation of December 19, 1513 / Treatise of Cajetan of 1515 (Tractatus de conceptione B. Virginis Mariae) condemned by Bartolomeo Spina in 1545]. [UNPUBLISHED]
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Photo
Middle and Final pictorial projects of The Madonna Chatron (Madonna dei garofani), by Raphael (1507_1520) - detail. ©AGALMATA
Middle and Final pictorial projects of The Madonna Chatron (La Madonna dei garofani), by Raphael Sanzio (1507_1520) - detail. ©AGALMATA