A painting I always like to see in the National Gallery is Raphael's 'An Allegory (Vision of a Knight)'. It's very small at just over six inches square and is easy to overlook on the wall with so many bigger paintings by the master but it's those gentle colours that first attract me, so typical of the Florentine renaissance. The painting begs many questions with what is it really about and why is it so small being top of the list (for me anyway). The label beside the painting assumes it's of the Roman soldier Scipio dreaming of Virtue and Pleasure being offered a book, a sword and a flower, representing the aspects of a knight and notes that it's painted in oil on a poplar board. Was it commissioned and, if so, who by, or was it just something he fancied doing? I'm suspect there's been lots of academic research into the painting.
Raphael must have used the tiniest of brushes to get so much detail into the small painting, maybe the brushes used for illuminating manuscripts? The landscape is suggested than fully realised but it provides an excellent backdrop to the three figures.
I'm looking forward to seeing this painting again when the National Gallery re-opens when lockdown is eased.
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