Analysis and meaning of RAFAEL's The Triumph of Galatea

Galatea's Triumph It is a work of Raphael Sanzio (Urbino, April 6, 1483 – Rome, April 7, 1520), also known as Raphael. A High Renaissance painter and architect who left an indelible mark on the history of universal art.

In this lesson of unPROFESOR.com we offer you the Analysis and meaning of The Triumph of Galatea, one of the masterpieces of the Italian Cinquecento, a time of heyday for Rome compared to Florence in terms of scientific and artistic innovation.

Index

1. Brief introduction to this work by Rafael
2. Analysis of The Triumph of Galatea
3. Meaning of The Triumph of Galatea

In 1511, Raphael he made this work, a fresco, in a room on the ground floor of the farnese villa, located in the Trastevere of Peruzzi, owned by the Sienese banker Agostino Chigi. This was a friend of Pope Julius II and had ordered the construction of a most sumptuous villa. The villa, the work of Baldasarre Peruzzi, became the property of the Farnese family, hence its current name.

Raphael painted several frescoes for the villa, but none as beautiful and famous as Galatea's Triumph. A work in which Rafael gave a good example of his pictorial skills, in addition to express your ideal of beauty. Some characteristics that make this fresco a true work of art.

Let's see the analysis of Galatea's Triumph and that, thus, you can better understand this work of art that is so studied and revered by experts.

Here you have the items key to this work by Raphael:

• Within the composition of this mythological-themed work, the Nereid Galatea appears marking the center of it and representing the triumph of platonic love about carnal love.
• The rest of the scene is arranged around her, seeing herself surrounded by a large number of newts, nereids and three fantastic creatures marine.
• From the sky, everyone is shot by a group of cupids heavenly.
• The pose that Galatea adopts is in serpentinate, bringing dynamism and sensuality to the scene, just like the cupids, also arranged dynamically and asymmetrically.
• In the background, also in the water, more centaurs appear embracing other Galatea companions or blowing her conches and trumpets. an authentic whirlwind of movement and music that conveys the joy and sensuality of the moment of passion created by the cupids.
• Raphael presents us with a complete anatomical study of the bodies by showing us a great variety of postures, but all of them natural, elegant and full of grace.
• The painter shows a great command of color by using the layer's red as the focal point and creating a contrast with the various bluish tones of the sea, in addition to using transparent lighting to enhance the bodies of the figures, something typical of the Cinquecento.
• The influence of classicism it is present in the scene both in color and in figures, revealing Raphael's great knowledge of Roman antiquities.
• The dimensions of the work are 297x225.

The image of women: Galatea

If we stop at Galatea we can observe the Raphael's ideal of feminine beauty: a woman with blond hair, a serene look and a face full of sweetness. Galatea wears a Pompeian red cloak that links the painting with the frescoes of classical antiquity. Her gaze and the Nereid's pose link her to the only cupid that she is not arbitrarily shooting her arrow.

Galatea is perched on a shell and strongly holds the reins of two dolphins that lead her through the sea. A figure drawn with a great purity and elegance of lines, something that Rafael repeats in the figure of the naiad mounted on a marine centaur who tries to hug her tightly in her arms.

But what is the meaning of Galatea's Triumph? Next to this fresco is another of Sebastiano del Piombo and Sodom in which it is narrated how Galatea rejects the love of the giant Polyphemus for that of the shepherd Acis, later crushed by the giant under the weight of a rock.

Raphael continue the story and she shows us Galatea escaping and keeping pure love, platonic love. Thus, she is the only one who maintains a serene pose and looks towards the only cupid who does not waste her arrows.

His attitude brings certain sacred and mystical air to the work, leaving aside the other two paths that the human being must follow: earthly love and politics. Rafael shows us that third path, the one that does not succumb to the seduction of power or the carnal.

The painter also leaves us his ideal of beauty and rejects the norm not inspired by reality. It captures the idea of ​​beauty that he has built in his mind, letting his sensitivity and beauty create that model. Something that anticipates modern art as it is the individual and not the norm who decides.

Image: Slideplayer

If you want to read more articles similar to Galatea's Triumph: Analysis and Meaning, we recommend that you enter our category of History.

• ERMINE, Mauro; SANZIO, Neptune Raphael. From the Renaissance to Expressionism: Rafael and Kirchner. The Century of Europe, 2012, no 979, p. 50-51.
• BEHAR, Roland. Galatea, or the Garcilasian idea of ​​beauty. Hispanic Bulletin. Université Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux, 2017, no 119-2, p. 591-620.
• MÜNTZ, Eugène. Raphael. Parkstone International, 2011.
• MONTERO, Diego Gonzalez. Greco-Latin mythology in Italian Renaissance painting.
• PALOP ALVAREZ, Miguel. History of the Renaissance: the portrait in Raphael Sanzio. 2016.