_Raphael_ (Urbino: 1483-1520). _See_ 1171.
This is one of nine replicas, or contemporary copies, of the
portrait in the Uffizi at Florence. Julius died in 1513; the
portrait belongs, therefore, to the earlier part of Raphael's
Roman period.
The portrait of a Pope of the church militant. "Raphael has caught
the momentary repose of a restless and passionate spirit, and has
shown all the grace and beauty which are to be found in the sense of
power repressed and power at rest. Seated in an arm-chair, with head
bent downward, the Pope is in deep thought. His furrowed brow and his
deep-sunk eyes tell of energy and decision. The down-drawn corners
of his mouth betoken constant dealings with the world" (Creighton's
_History of the Papacy_). For it was in the temporal, not in the
spiritual world that Julius lived and moved and had his being, and
became, by his combination of military and diplomatic abilities, the
most prominent political figure of his day. But, like other great
princes of the time, Julius was a liberal and enlightened patron of
the arts: it was he who laid the foundation-stone of St. Peter's,
and who called Michael Angelo and Raphael to his court. On the green
hanging which forms the background, the cross-keys of the pontifical
office are indicated, and from the two corners of the back of the
chair rise two shafts, surmounted by gilt ornaments in the form of
acorns--in reference to the armorial bearings of the Pope's family
(_della Rovere_). "No amount of elaboration in the background could
disturb the attention of any one looking at the portrait of Julius the
Second, by Raphael, also in the Tribune, which I cannot help thinking
is _the_ finished portrait in the world. A portrait is _the most truly
historical picture_, and this is the most monumental and historical of
portraits. The longer one looks at it the more it demands attention. A
superficial picture is like a superficial character--it may do for an
acquaintance, but not for a friend. One never gets to the end of things
to interest and admire in many old portrait-pictures" (G. F. Watts,
R.A., in the _Magazine of Art_, January 1889).