Saint Matthias, After Raphael

Celebrated on May 14, Saint Matthias, nicknamed “the Substitute”, followed Jesus from his baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist and was chosen from among the seventy disciples to replace Judas after his suicide. The sacred number of the twelve apostles, echoing the lineage of the twelve tribes of Israel, had indeed to be completed. Appointed by God, he then received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost before leaving to preach the good word in Judea and Colchis, where he was crucified. Our drawing, with a refined and precise line, like the engraving which served as a model, represents the apostle Saint Matthias with aged features, wearing a beard and short hair and wearing a long-sleeved tunic held up by a covered belt. of a coat. Walking, he leans on the instrument of his martyrdom by detachment, a halberd. Inspired by the series of the Twelve Apostles, a cycle of frescoes in chiaroscuro, painted by Raphael in 1517 which were destroyed under the pontificate of Paul IV (1476-1559), all that remains of their existence is a series of chisel engravings from the artist Marc Antonio Raimondi (1480-1532). Born in a small village in Bologna, the artist went to Rome in 1510, where he was introduced to the most fashionable artistic circles of the Eternal City, all gravitating around the solar Raphaelesque genius. In his famous collection, Giorgio Vasari relates that Raphaël joins the engraver in order to disseminate his work more widely. The collaboration proved fruitful and the company prospered. Raimondi distributes Raphaël's paintings and drawings on a European scale with the help of collaborators. Destroyed by Paul VI, the Twelve Apostles had been painted at the request of Leo X to adorn the walls of a studiolo in the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City. Raimondi's series of engravings after the destroyed frescoes therefore constitutes the only visual evidence of the work that has disappeared forever (Ill. 1).