The commission: The "Sistine Madonna" was almost certainly commissioned directly by Pope Julius II. In July 1512 the Vatican received the news that the northern Italian town of Piacenza had joined the Papal States. It
is assumed that this event prompted the Pope to commission the painting. The "Sistine Madonna" was intended for the monastery church of San Sisto in Piacenza, with which the Pope was associated on account of close family
contacts. Raphael had probably already been completed the work by the time of the Pope's death in February 1513.
The painting: The "Sistine Madonna" is one of the world's most famous Renaissance masterpieces. It depicts a vision appearing to saints in the clouds. In the centre of the picture the Virgin strides towards the earthly
realm whilst holding the Christ Child in her arms. Out of the expanse of the heavens, intimated by the countless heads of angels painted in sky blue, she carries the Christ Child into the world. Pope Sixtus II, a martyr
from the third century, kneels on the left-hand side of the picture, showing her the way. On the right-hand side is the meekly kneeling figure of St. Barbara, who also suffered martyrdom in the third century. These
two saints were venerated at the high altar of the monastery church of San Sisto in Piacenza, which is why the artist included them in the painting. The two cute cherubs perching on the balustrade at the bottom of the
picture were added by Raphael at the very end of the painting process, primarily for compositional reasons.
百度翻译：http://fanyi.baidu.com
拉斐爾在羅馬的這段期間，創作了許多相當重要的作品，其中包括了Madonnapaintings像是the Madonna della Sedia(1513-1514)，以及Julius II (1511-12), the Donna Velata, Baldassare Castiglione, and Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio deaaaaaMedici and Luigi deaaaaaRossi一系列的肖像畫。
他也創作了西斯汀禮拜教堂側邊牆壁上緣的裝飾，而拉斐爾最大的對手-米開朗基羅的作品就緊鄰在旁。然而，拉斐爾並未採用壁畫式的風格，而是改以掛毯圍成一圈的形式描繪出十二使徒的生活。
這份在 1515 年到 1518 間創作的草圖如今也被收藏在倫敦，那些掛幕由Pieter van Aelst完成，其中 7 幅在 1519 年時被展示出來。
拉斐爾的「西斯汀禮拜教堂的聖母像」是提及文藝復興時期，相當被人津津樂道和喜愛的作品之一。對許多人來說，它是一個保存西方畫作風格極重要的範例，它的聲譽決不亞於蒙娜麗莎的微笑。
所有替這畫作寫評論的人都會提到聖母和耶穌那奇怪、令人不解的表情。多數的解釋都認為這是「畫作中令人誤解的構圖」，但許多專家仍投注於此問題。
著名畫家及作家，像是Goethe, Runge, Schlegel, C. G. Carus, Hebbel, Schopenhauer and R. A. Schröder(只提幾個德籍評論家)，更別提大批的歷史學家，都曾經試著去詮釋這畫作，其他人也一再的堅持己見。Grillparze亦是如此，他說：「有多少人都希望能探索出這畫作中的秘密」。
Schopenhauer認為耶穌是受驚嚇的表情；但戲劇家Hebbel認為:「嬰兒他是渴望的,牙齒緊咬，眼神是熾烈的」古時候，聖父的食指幾乎總是被解釋成指著那些讚揚蒙大拿的朝聖者。
因此他也解釋著聖母與聖嬰正在看著朝聖者，但這也引起了個謎題：為什麼聖母看起來如此的不安？為什麼聖嬰一頭亂髮、呆若木雞的瞪著外面，縮著他的背呢？拉斐爾為位在 Piacenza 的 S. Sisto 的高聖壇作這幅畫。
這小鎮在 1512 年成為凡蒂岡的管轄後，這畫作曾短暫的出現。有人認為教宗 Pope Julius II 的肖像，在 figure of St. Sixtus 中的左側，正看著聖母瑪利亞和指著朝聖者。
直到最近,圍繞著這畫作的問題終於揭曉，A. Prager 近來的研究表示，解謎的關鍵就在於這項祭壇裝飾品本來擺設的位置。再次看這令人迷惑的問題:到底教宗、聖母、聖嬰在指的和看的是什麼?謎底不但令人震驚但也相當有說服力。
一直以來，人們都遺忘了一如其他教堂 S. Sisto 這樣聖壇擺設品的對面，在有耶穌像的十字架上方，遠遠的映入眼簾的就是十字架。聖母和聖嬰驚嚇和困擾的表情，就是他們看見死亡的回應。
值得一提的是，在成功的揭曉謎底前，提出最相近答案的不是個美術史學家，而是作家R. A. Schröder。他認為寫在聖嬰臉上最深的恐懼代表著「在臨死之前，最駭人的就是死亡本身」。
