Raphael, Painter in Rome

February 10, 2020
Storey’s unconvincing follow-up to Oil and Marble, which focused on Leonardo and Michelangelo, attempts a first-person narrative in the voice of Raphael Santi. In 1494, an 11-year-old Raphael promises his dying father that he will become “the greatest painter in history.” He’s a working artist by the time he’s 21, and his stay in Florence confirms that Michelangelo is his greatest rival. Raphael moves to Rome in 1508, hoping to be commissioned to paint the Sistine ceiling. Michelangelo already has the job, but Pope Julius II commissions Raphael to decorate the walls of the papal apartments. Though fame, fortune, and love follow, the wars that embroil the Italian peninsula through much of Raphael’s lifetime, as well as his obsession with besting his brilliant rival Michelangelo, keep him in crisis. Storey’s extensive research is on display in her evocation of Raphael’s art and era, but her exaggerated portrait of the artist as an OCD sufferer given to constant ritualistic counting and anachronistic addresses to the reader strains credulity. Fans of historical fiction will savor the setting, but Storey’s Raphael doesn’t do himself or his story any favors.

Narrating entirely in an Italian accent, P.J. Ochlan captures the youthful exuberance of the Renaissance artist Raphael as he tells his own story of how he painted the papal apartments in the Vatican. Raphael's hard climb to fame as a self-described "nice boy from Urbino" in corrupt Rome is made especially difficult by his rivalry with the volatile Michelangelo. The two artists feed off of each other's successes and failures while maintaining a sympatico relationship. Ochlan's dramatic portrayals of the many supporting characters add humor to this vividly imagined story. The listener will be entertained by the voices of cutthroat dukes and cardinals, conniving maidens, and Pope Julius himself. Ochlan gives his all to this performance of a story both hilarious and touching. J.E.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine