People usually say “promises are meant to be broken” to justify why they could not keep them. That should not be the case, since a person can lose their credibility if they break a promise. It may even cause others to lose their trust in them.
Northern California-based writer and art aficionado Carla Nicole De Petris knew that her promise to the original owner of the “Madonna of Divine Love” meant more than keeping her credibility. It also meant connecting the past with the present and its implications for the future.
Carla tracks down the origins of the painting in A True Story in Search of an Answer? where she goes in-depth with her research of the Madonna. “I had to tell this true story because one day, this painting will be recognized as the original painting by Raffaello Sanzio, and there will be only this story to tell,” she said.
A True Story is just one of the many stories featured in her blog, mostly about Raphael. In Raffaello’s Tapestry Design for Pope Leone X, she said, “Everything created during his lifetime was from his drawings. He designed everything himself, for etchings, frescoes, tapestries, paintings, and architecture.”
Carla featured one of Raphael’s frescoes in Raffaello’s Design for the Frescoes in the Villa Farnesina. She shared how multiple artists, like Sebastiano del Piombo, Baldassarre Peruzzi, and Ludovico Seitz, contributed to “La Villa Farnesina a Roma.” Banker Alessandro Chigi originally owned the fresco from Siena before the Farnese family purchased it.
Other works of Raphael include “The Entombment of Christ,” a painting dedicated to Atalanta Baglioni’s son Grifonetto, who died in an attack on their family home; “A Fuga Di Lotto” and “The Noah’s Arc” watercolor paintings found in the Vatican; and the “Marcantonio Raimondi Engraving.”
Carla’s interest in Raphael allowed her to write a lot of stories about him. Had she been less interested, she would have never known about the authenticity of the Madonna.
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