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The Raphael Cartoons are seven tapestry cartoons made by the famous High Renaissance painter Raphael. They are part of a set of ten cartoons commissioned by Pope Julius II and Leo X for tapestries destined for the famous Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The seven cartoons were probably completed in 1516 and must have been sent to Brussels, where the Vatican tapestries were woven by Pieter van Aelst.
As soon as they were finished, they were sent to Flanders to be copied in tapestry, for adorning the pontifical apartments; but the tapestries were not conveyed to Rome till after the decease of Raphael, and probably not before the dreadful sack of that city in 1527, under the pontificate of Clement VII; when Raphael's scholars having fled from thence, none were left to inquire after the original Cartoons, which lay neglected in the storerooms of the manufactory, the money for the tapestry having never been paid. The revolution that happened soon after in the low countries prevented their being noticed during a period in which works of art were wholly neglected. They were purchased by king Charles I. at the recommendation of Rubens, but had been much injured by the weavers. At the sale of the royal pictures in 1653, these Cartoons were purchased for 300l. by Oliver Cromwell, against whom no one would presume to bid. The protector pawned them to the Dutch court for upwards of 50,000l., and, after the revolution, King William brought them over again to England, and built a gallery for their reception in Hampton Court. Originally there were twelve of these Cartoons, but four of them have been destroyed by damps and neglect. The subjects were the adoration of the Magi, the conversion of St. Paul, the martyrdom of St. Stephen and St. Paul before Felix and Agrippa. Two of these were in the possession of the King of Sardinia, and two of Louis XIV. of France, who is said to have offered 100,000 louis d'ors for the seven, which are justly represented as "the glory of England, and the envy of all other polite nations." The twelfth, the subject of which was the murder of the innocents, belonged to a private gentleman in England, who pledged it for a sum of money; but when the person who had taken this valuable deposit found it was to be redeemed, he greatly damaged the drawing; for which the gentleman brought an action against him.
In 1865 it was decided by Queen Victoria that they should be exhibited on loan at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, where they are still to be seen.
The London Raphael Cartoons represent the following scenes from the lives of Jesus and St. Paul:
- Christ's Charge to Peter
- The Miraculous Draught of Fishes
- The Death of Ananias
- The Healing of the Lame Man
- The Blinding of Elymas
- The Sacrifice at Lystra
- St. Paul Preaching at Athens
Cartoon is derived from the Italian cartone, a painting or drawing upon large paper.
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