Beyond the Cherubs: The Story Behind The Sistine Madonna

A Madonna for the Pope

The Italian painter Raphael was not yet 30 years old when, in the summer of 1512, Pope Julius II commissioned him to create a large-scale painting. The pope wanted a work for the high altar of the Benedictine monastery of San Sisto in Piacenza, to celebrate the return of the Lombard city to the Papal States following the withdrawal of the French army after the Battle of Ravenna.

The monastery also had close ties to the Della Rovere family, as Saint Sixtus was the family’s patron saint and, in particular, with Julius II’s uncle, Pope Sixtus IV. For this reason, the commission required the inclusion of Saint Sixtus, in honour of his distinguished predecessor. It is likely that Raphael had already completed the painting by the time Julius II died in February 1513, making the Sistine Madonna one of the last works the artist executed entirely with his own hand.

A Divine Composition

The Sistine Madonna is unanimously regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces of Western art, and not without reason. Among its many merits, the most striking is the conceptual and symbolic complexity hidden behind the apparent simplicity of its composition. This is further enriched by the harmonious union of the Greco-Roman ideal of beauty with Christian spirituality.

Two-parted curtains frame the central scene, where a young Virgin Mary descends toward the earthly realm holding the Christ Child in her arms. Mary herself gazes directly at the viewer with an intensity that was unprecedented for its time. Never before had a sacred figure so dramatically engaged the faithful, turning the observer into an integral part of the scene. The sky is rendered as a cloud formed by indistinct cherubic heads, while the earth is suggested through the Virgin’s bare feet and the balustrade on which the two cherubs rest. This architectural element serves as a symbolic boundary between the divine space and the earthly one occupied by the viewer.

To Mary’s right kneels Pope Saint Sixtus II, easily identifiable by the triple-crowned papal tiara placed on the balustrade below him. The saint extends his right hand toward us, directly addressing the faithful. On the left, Saint Barbara kneels in humility; she is recognized by the tower visible over her shoulder, an emblem of her martyrdom. Both saints were especially venerated in the Church of San Sixtus.

Raphael added the two cherubs perched on the balustrade at the bottom of the painting at the very end of the creative process, primarily for compositional reasons. Their function is to visually separate the celestial and earthly planes while also enhancing depth and perspective.

The painting fits perfectly within the canons of the Renaissance and exemplifies Raphael’s mastery in creating images of exceptional sweetness and apparent simplicity, yet profoundly studied and full of life. Everything in this painting contributes to a perfect balance, in which nothing feels excessive, but any missing element would be sorely felt.

A Raphael for a King

Despite the renown it enjoys today, the Sistine Madonna remained relatively unknown for more than two centuries. It was not until Augustus III, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, decided to decorate his court in Dresden with a painting by Raphael that the artwork entered the international spotlight.

To that end, he sent an art expert to Italy specifically to negotiate its acquisition. After two years of intense negotiations, the Benedictine monks, facing severe financial difficulties, agreed to sell the painting in 1753 for a sum estimated between 110,000 and 120,000 francs, the highest price paid for a painting for many decades.

The altarpiece was transferred to Dresden in 1754, where it quickly achieved widespread prominence. It is said that Augustus himself even moved his throne to better display the painting. The image went on to exert a profound influence on figures such as Goethe, Wagner, and Nietzsche, thus securing its place in European cultural history.

War and Art

In 1945, in the territory occupied by Soviet troops, the Red Army discovered the rich museum collections of Dresden, Leipzig, Dessau, Schwerin, Gotha, Weimar, and Wartburg. These artworks had been stored in special shelters to protect them from British and American bombings.

The Trophy Commission, established by the Soviet government, began operating in the occupied territories as soon as the war ended. Its main task was the dismantling and removal of industrial installations and strategic materials to the Soviet Union, but art treasures also fell within its remit. The Committee of Arts of the Council of People’s Commissars assigned special brigades made up of art historians, artists, restorers, and other experts. The removal of hundreds of thousands of artworks from the Soviet zone of occupation to the USSR became one of the most massive transport operations in the history of art. For nearly 50 years, thousands of pieces seized by Soviet troops from Nazi Germany remained hidden in special museum depositories across the Soviet Union.

Among the works discovered was the Sistine Madonna, found by the Red Army inside a railway tunnel southeast of Dresden. The paintings were first transferred to the nearby Pillnitz Castle, where they were prepared for transport to Moscow. Large crates, containing works like Raphael’s Sistine Madonna and paintings by Correggio, were too big to fit in the train cars. They had to load them on a flatcar and secure them on it, and something like a hut, made from boards, was built above the boxes to protect the pictures from bad weather; its roof was covered with tar paper. Guards were posted along the train and submachine gunners were on duty 24 hours a day during the trip. On August 10, 1945, the train arrived in Moscow.

Homecoming

In 1946, the painting was exhibited on a limited basis at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, along with other artworks seized by the Red Army. However, in 1955, following the death of Joseph Stalin, the Soviet authorities decided to return the piece to Germany as a symbolic gesture aimed at strengthening the friendship between the Soviet and German peoples. The painting was restored and displayed both in Moscow and Berlin before finally returning to Dresden in October of that same year. Since then, the Sistine Madonna has been on view at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, where it occupies a central place in the museum’s permanent collection.

When the Putti Stole the Scene

As we’ve seen, the Sistine Madonna is far more than the two famous cherubs that have captured the world’s imagination. Still, let us return to them. Leaning casually on the balustrade at the bottom of the painting, the two cherubs, popularly known as putti, are among the most beloved figures in Raphael’s entire oeuvre, and perhaps in all of Renaissance imagery.

Over the centuries, they’ve inspired countless legends. One tells of how, while Raphael was painting the Virgin, the children of his model wandered in, and the artist, struck by their posture, immortalized them exactly as he saw them. Another version, published in St. Nicholas Magazine in 1912, claims Raphael spotted two street children gazing longingly into a bakery window and captured their dreamy expressions.

Whatever their true origin, these cherubs have stirred fascination for centuries, so much so that Goethe himself once remarked that had Raphael chosen them as the main subject, they would still be considered a masterpiece.

Still in the Spotlight

In 2012, the Dresden Gallery celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Sistine Madonna with a major commemorative exhibition. For the first time, the entire history of the painting was presented chronologically. At the heart of the exhibition was an exceptional selection of works by Raphael, focused on the period surrounding the creation of the Madonna. Other sections invited visitors to explore the dramatic acquisition of the painting by the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister and to follow its transformation into a cultural myth.

However, the painting’s fame has also made it a target for protest. In 2022, two climate activists glued themselves to the frame of the Sistine Madonna. Fortunately, the artwork itself was unharmed, as only the non-original frame was affected.

Five centuries after its creation, the Sistine Madonna continues to captivate viewers not only for its beauty, but for the extraordinary story that surrounds it. And yet it is perhaps ironic that two small cherubs, resting their heads on their hands at the bottom of the canvas, have become its most recognizable ambassadors. But far from diminishing the work, their popularity reminds us of the power of detail, of how even the smallest elements can transcend time and meaning. To look beyond them is to rediscover the masterpiece to which they belong.

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