Raphael's Sistine Madonna: From Papal Commission to Dresden's Gemäldegalerie
Pope Julius II commissioned Raphael to paint the Sistine Madonna in 1512 for the San Sisto monastery in Piacenza, celebrating the city's return to Papal States. The painting features Saint Sixtus and Saint Barbara and was likely completed before the pope's death in February 1513. Augustus III acquired it in 1753 for 110,000–120,000 francs, and it arrived in Dresden in 1754. In 1945, the Red Army found it in a railway tunnel near Dresden and transported it to Moscow. It was exhibited at the Pushkin Museum in 1946 and returned to Germany in 1955. In 2012, Dresden Gallery held a 500th-anniversary exhibition, and in 2022, climate activists glued themselves to its frame.
Key facts
- Raphael painted the Sistine Madonna in 1512–1513 for Pope Julius II.
- Commissioned for San Sisto monastery in Piacenza to mark the city's return to Papal States.
- Includes Saint Sixtus and Saint Barbara, reflecting Della Rovere family ties.
- Augustus III acquired it in 1753 for 110,000–120,000 francs after negotiations.
- Red Army found it in a railway tunnel near Dresden in 1945 and transported it to Moscow.
- Returned to Germany in 1955, displayed in Moscow, Berlin, then Dresden.
- Dresden Gallery celebrated its 500th anniversary with an exhibition in 2012.
- Climate activists targeted its frame in 2022 without damaging the artwork.
Entities
Artists
- Raphael
- Melozzo da Forlì
- Louis Silvestre II
- Correggio
- Herbert Boswank
Institutions
- Benedictine monastery of San Sisto
- Papal States
- Pinacoteca Vaticana
- Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
- King John III Palace Museum
- Pushkin Museum
- Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden
- Soviet government
- Trophy Commission
- Committee of Arts of the Council of People's Commissars
- Red Army
- Nationagalerie
- Dresden Gallery
- St. Nicholas Magazine
Locations
- Piacenza
- Italy
- Vatican City
- Dresden
- Germany
- Poland
- Saxony
- Wilanów
- Warsaw
- Leipzig
- Dessau
- Schwerin
- Gotha
- Weimar
- Wartburg
- Soviet Union
- Moscow
- Berlin