The Curtain in Raphael's SistineMadonna
Johann Konrad Eberlein
Among the many interpretations of curtain in Raphael's painting, one by Berliner is here supported with further evidence. The motif, which medieval portraits Evangelists alluded to Temple, rent asunder at Christ's death, was a common symbol Incarnation iconography Mary. It thus possible for Julius II, who ordered refer through it his honored uncle Sixtus IV, had officially founded feast Immaculate Conception, and allude also own political triumph.
Art Bulletin