
The Sistine Madonna was painted by Raphael (1483-1520) around 1513 and can now be seen in Dresden, Germany. It is an oil painting, measuring 196x265 centimeters, which becomes crucial in this context. Hopefully, it is obvious that the geometry of the composition and the interpretation which may be drawn from it, is less speculative than most of the flourishing suppositions about hidden codes in renaissance art. Raphael was an architect and the precision is almost absolute. Furthermore Raphael from the beginning of his career til its end had a remarkable ability to unite the technical sides of composition, colour etc. with a mastery of emotional expression. He enters the stage with Sposalizo (1504) and by his death bed we find the work Transfiguration, both with a vertical Vesica Piscis as the bearing principle of composition. I have to state, that I personally find it dubious to associate a carnal being - no matter whom his mother and father may have been - with attributes giving allusions of saviour or link between God and man. Nevertheless there is a great beauty in the perspectives of the gospel of John, which may still stimulate both the religous and the rational mind. Quite literally 'ratio' is a question of proportions and LOGOS in greek philosophy is not merely a word but specifically the mean in a geometric proportion, which the golden mean is one example of. The sound track is Ave Vera Virginitas by Josquin des Prés (ca. 1450-1521), here performed by Hilleroed <b>...</b>
Sistine
Madonna
Sophia
Golden
Mean
Proportion
John
Gospel
Immaculate
Conception
Logos
Trigon
Square
Geometric
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