Raffaello Sanzio
Self-portrait by Raphael, missing since World War II
Birth name	Raffaello Sanzio
Born	April 6, 1483(1483-04-06) Urbino, Italy
Died	April 6, 1520 (aged 37) Rome, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Field	Painting, architecture
Training	Perugino
Movement	Renaissance
Works	The School of Athens

Raphael Sanzio, usually known by his first name alone (in Italian Raffaello)^[1] (April 6 or March 28, 1483 – April 6, 1520)^[2] was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance, celebrated for the perfection and grace of his paintings and drawings. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the Battle of Thapsus Urbino is a walled city in the Marche region in Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the Battle of Thapsus Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e The term architecture (from Greek αρχιτεκτονικήarchitektoniki) can be used to mean a process a profession or documentation Pietro Perugino (1446–1524 was the leading painter of the Umbrian school who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere The School of Athens, or it Scuola di Atene in Italian, is one of the most famous Paintings by the Italian Renaissance artist Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the Battle of Thapsus Events 37 - Roman Emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, entitled to him by the Senate. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the Battle of Thapsus Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction The High Renaissance, in the History of art, denotes the culmination of the art of the Italian Renaissance between 1450 and 1527 Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni Two biographies were published of him during his lifetime One of them by Giorgio Vasari, proposed that he was the pinnacle of all Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ( April 15 1452 – May 2 1519 was an Italian Polymath, having been a scientist Mathematician, Engineer ^[3]

Raphael was enormously productive and, despite his early death at thirty-seven, a large body of his work remains, especially in the Vatican. He was extremely influential in his lifetime, but after his death the influence of his great rival Michelangelo was more widespread until the 18th and 19th centuries, when his more serene and harmonious qualities were again regarded as the highest models.

His career falls naturally into three phases and three styles, first described by Giorgio Vasari: his early years in Umbria, then a period of about four years (from 1504-1508) absorbing the artistic traditions of Florence, followed by his last hectic and triumphant twelve years in Rome, working for two Popes and their close associates. Giorgio Vasari ( 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian painter and Architect, who is today famous Umbria is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. The capital is Perugia. Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 ^[4]

Contents 1 Urbino 2 Early life and work 3 The influence of Florence 4 Roman period 4.1 The Vatican "Stanze" 4.2 Other projects 5 Workshop 5.1 Portraits 6 Architecture 7 Drawings 8 Printmaking 9 Private life and death 10 Critical reception 11 See also 12 Notes 13 Main references 14 Further reading 15 External links

Urbino

Raphael was born in the small but artistically significant Central Italian city of Urbino in the Marche region,^[5] where his father Giovanni Santi was court painter to the Duke. Urbino is a walled city in the Marche region in Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical The Marche (plural originally from le marche de Ancona, referring to the March of Ancona) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. Giovanni Santi x (c 1435 &ndash August 1 1494) was an Italian painter and Poet, father of Raphael. The reputation of the court had been established by Federigo da Montefeltro, a highly successful condottiere who had been created the first Duke of Urbino by the Pope - Urbino formed part of the Papal States - and who died the year before Raphael was born. Federico da Montefeltro, also known as Federico III da Montefeltro ( Castello di Petroia, June 7, 1422 &ndash Ferrara, September Condottieri (singular condottiero, rarely condottiero) were Mercenary leaders employed by the Italian City-states from the Late Middle The Duchy of Urbino was a sovereign state of northern Italy The first lords of Urbino were the Montefeltro who obtained the title of counts from Emperor Frederick The Papal States, State(s of the Church or Pontifical States (in Italian Stato Ecclesiastico, Stato della Chiesa, Stati della Chiesa The emphasis of Federigo's court was rather more literary than artistic, but Giovanni Santi was a poet of sorts as well as a painter, and had written a rhymed chronicle of the life of Federigo, and both wrote the texts and produced the decor for masque-like court entertainments. The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in sixteenth and early seventeenth century Europe though it was developed earlier in Italy His poem to Federigo shows him as keen to show awareness of the most advanced North Italian painters, and Early Netherlandish artists as well. Early Netherlandish painting is the work of those painters who were active in the Low Countries during the 15th and early 16th century Northern renaissance In the very small court of Urbino he was probably more integrated into court life than most court painters.

Federigo was succeeded by his son Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, who married Elisabetta Gonzaga, daughter of the ruler of Mantua, the most brilliant of the smaller Italian courts for both music and the visual arts. Guidobaldo (Guido Ubaldo da Montefeltro also known as Guidobaldo I ( January 17 1472 &ndash April 10, 1508) was an Italian Mantua (Màntova in the local dialect of Lombard language Mantua is a city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the Under them, the court continued as a centre for literary culture. Growing up in the circle of this small court gave Raphael the excellent manners and social skills stressed by Vasari. ^[6] Court life in Urbino at just after this period was to become set as the model of the virtues of the Italian humanist court by Baldassare Castiglione's depiction of it in his classic work The Book of the Courtier, published in 1528. Baldasare Castiglione, count of Novellata ( December 15, 1478 &ndash February 28, 1529) was an Italian Courtier, The Book of the Courtier (Il Cortegiano was written by Baldassare Castiglione over the course of many years beginning in 1508 and published in 1528 just Castiglione moved to Urbino in 1504, when Raphael was no longer based there but frequently visited, and they became good friends. Other regular visitors to the court were also to become great friends: Pietro Bibbiena and Pietro Bembo, both later Cardinals, were already becoming well known as writers, and would be in Rome during Raphael's period there. Bernardo Dovizi or Bibbiena ( August 4, 1470 &ndash November 9 1520) was an Italian cardinal and Comedy Pietro Bembo ( May 20, 1470 - either 11 January or 18 January, 1547 was an Italian scholar poet literary theorist and A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. Raphael mixed easily in the highest circles throughout his life, one of the factors that tended to give a misleading impression of effortlessness to his career. He did not receive a full humanistic education however; it is unclear how easily he read Latin. ^[7]

Early life and work

In 1491, his mother Màgia died, followed by his father (who had already remarried) on August 1, 1494. Events 30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Orphaned at eleven, Raphael's formal guardian became his only paternal uncle Bartolomeo, a priest, who subsequently engaged in litigation with his stepmother. He probably continued to live with his stepmother when not living as an apprentice with a master. He had already shown talent, according to Giorgio Vasari, who tells that Raphael had been "a great help to his father". Giorgio Vasari ( 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian painter and Architect, who is today famous A brilliant self-portrait drawing from his teenage years shows his precocious talent. A Self-portrait is a representation of an artist drawn painted photographed or sculpted by the artist ^[8] His father's workshop continued and, probably together with his stepmother, Raphael evidently played a part in managing it from a very early age. In Urbino, he came into contact with the works of Paolo Uccello, previously the court painter (d. Paolo Uccello (born Paolo di Dono, 1397 &ndash December 10 1475) was an Italian painter who was notable for his pioneering work on visual 1475), and Luca Signorelli, who until 1498 was based in nearby Città di Castello. Luca Signorelli (c 1445 - October 16, 1523) was an Italian Renaissance painter who was noted in particular for his ability as a draughtsman Città di Castello is a town and Comune in the Province of Perugia, in the northern part of the Umbria region of Italy.

According to Vasari, his father placed him in the workshop of the Umbrian master Pietro Perugino as an apprentice "despite the tears of his mother". Pietro Perugino (1446–1524 was the leading painter of the Umbrian school who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance The evidence of an apprenticeship comes only from Vasari and another source,^[9] and has been disputed—his mother died when he was eight, which is very early for an apprenticeship to begin. An alternative theory is that he received at least some training from Timoteo Viti, who acted as court painter in Urbino from 1495. Timoteo Viti, sometimes called Timoteo della Viti or Timoteo da Urbino (1469 &ndash 1523 was an Italian Renaissance painter, who ^[10] But most modern historians agree that Raphael at least worked as an assistant to Perugino from around 1500; the influence of Perugino on Raphael's early work is very clear: "probably no other pupil of genius has ever absorbed so much of his master's teaching as Raphael did", according to Wölfflin. ^[11] Vasari wrote that it was impossible to distinguish their hands at this period, but many modern art historians claim to do better and detect his hand in specific areas of works by Perugino or his workshop. Art history is the Academic study of objects of Art in their Historical development and stylistic contexts i Apart from stylistic closeness, their techniques are very similar as well, for example having paint applied thickly, using an oil varnish medium, in shadows and darker garments, but very thinly on flesh areas. An excess of resin in the varnish often causes cracking of areas of paint in the works of both masters. ^[12] The Perugino workshop was active in both Perugia and Florence, perhaps maintaining two permanent branches. Perugia is the capital City of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the Tiber river and the capital of the Province of Perugia Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany ^[13] Raphael is described as a "master", that is to say fully trained, in 1501.

His first documented work was the Baronci altarpiece for the church of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino in Città di Castello, a town halfway between Perugia and Urbino. The Baronci altarpiece was a Painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael. Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (San Nicola da Tolentino San Nicolás de Tolentino (c Evangelista da Pian di Meleto, who had worked for his father, was also named in the commission. It was commissioned in 1500 and finished in 1501; now only some cut sections and a preparatory drawing remain. ^[14] In the following years he painted works for other churches there, including the "Mond Crucifixion" (about 1503) and the Brera Wedding of the Virgin (1504), and for Perugia, such as the Oddi Altarpiece. The Mond Crucifixion is a Painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael An early work influenced by Perugino, This article concerns the Milanese art gallery For the automobile see Alfa Romeo Brera. The Marriage of the Virgin is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance master Raphael, 1504. The Oddi altar is an Altarpiece that was painted in 1502-150 He very probably also visited Florence in this period. These are large works, some in fresco, where Raphael confidently marshalls his compositions in the somewhat static style of Perugino. Fresco (plural either frescos or frescoes) is any of several related Painting types done on Plaster on walls or He also painted many small and exquisite cabinet paintings in these years, probably mostly for the connoisseurs in the Urbino court, like the Three Graces and St. Michael, and he began to paint Madonnas and portraits. A cabinet painting (or "cabinet picture" is a small Painting, typically no larger than about two feet in either dimension but often much smaller The Three Graces (c 1501-1505 is a small picture by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. St Michael is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael (c Images of the Madonna and Madonna and Child are one of the central Icons of Christianity, representing the Madonna or Mary mother of Jesus ^[15] In 1502 he went to Siena at the invitation of another pupil of Perugino, Pinturicchio, "being a friend of Raphael and knowing him to be a draughtsman of the highest quality" to help with the cartoons, and very likely the designs, for a fresco series in the Piccolomini Library in Siena Cathedral. Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Siena. Pietro Perugino (1446–1524 was the leading painter of the Umbrian school who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance Bernardino di Betto, called Pintoricchio or Pinturicchio (1454 &ndash 1513 was an Italian painter of the Renaissance The word cartoon has various meanings based on several very different forms of Visual art and Illustration. The Medieval Cathedral of Siena ( Italian: Duomo di Siena) dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church and The Medieval Cathedral of Siena ( Italian: Duomo di Siena) dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church and ^[16] He was evidently already much in demand even at this early stage in his career.

The Mond Crucifixion, 1502-3, very much in the style of Perugino

The Coronation of the Virgin 1502-3

The Wedding of the Virgin, Raphael's most sophisticated altarpiece of this period. The Mond Crucifixion is a Painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael An early work influenced by Perugino, Pietro Perugino (1446–1524 was the leading painter of the Umbrian school who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance The Coronation of the Virgin or Coronation of Mary is a subject in Christian art, especially popular in Italy in the 13th to 15th centuries but continuing in popularity

Saint George and the Dragon, a small work (29 x 21 cm) for the court of Urbino.

The influence of Florence

Raphael led a "nomadic" life, working in various centres in Northern Italy, but spent a good deal of time in Florence, perhaps from about 1504. However, although there is traditional reference to a "Florentine period" of about 1504-8, he was certainly never a continuous resident there. ^[17] He may have needed to visit the city to secure materials in any case. There is a letter of recommendation of Raphael, dated October 1504, from the mother of the next Duke of Urbino to the Gonfaloniere of Florence: "The bearer of this will be found to be Raphael, painter of Urbino, who, being greatly gifted in his profession has determined to spend some time in Florence to study. The Gonfaloniere was a highly prestigious communal post in Medieval and Renaissance Italy, notably in Florence. And because his father was most worthy and I was very attached to him, and the son is a sensible and well-mannered young man, on both accounts, I bear him great love. . . "^[18]

As earlier with Perugino and others, Raphael was able to assimilate the influence of Florentine art, whilst keeping his own developing style. Frescos in Perugia of about 1505 show a new monumental quality in the figures which may represent the influence of Fra Bartolomeo, who Vasari says was a friend of Raphael. Fra Bartolomeo or Fra Bartolommeo ( di Pagholo) ( March 28, 1472 &ndash October 6, 1517) also known as Baccio della But the most striking influence in the work of these years is Leonardo da Vinci, who returned to the city from 1500 to 1506. Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ( April 15 1452 – May 2 1519 was an Italian Polymath, having been a scientist Mathematician, Engineer Raphael's figures begin to take more dynamic and complex positions, and though as yet his painted subjects are still mostly tranquil, he made drawn studies of fighting nude men, one of the obsessions of the period in Florence. Another drawing is a portrait of a young woman that uses the three-quarter length pyramidal composition of the just-completed "Mona Lisa", but still looks completely Raphaelesque. Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda) is a 16th century portrait painted in oil on a Poplar panel by Another of Leonardo's compositional inventions, the pyramidal Holy Family, was repeated in a series of works that remain among his most famous easel paintings. There is a drawing by Raphael in the Royal Collection of Leonardo's lost Leda and the Swan, from which he adapted the contrapposto pose of his own Saint Catherine of Alexandria. The Royal Collection is the art collection of the British Royal Family. Leda and the Swan is a motif from Greek mythology, in which Zeus came to Leda in the form of a Swan. Contrapposto is an Italian term meaning "counterpoise" used in the Visual arts to describe a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot ^[19] He also perfects his own version of Leonardo's sfumato modelling, to give subtlety to his painting of flesh, and develops the interplay of glances between his groups, which are much less enigmatic than those of Leonardo. Sfumato is the Italian term for a Painting technique which overlays translucent layers of colour to create perceptions of depth volume and form But he keeps the soft clear light of Perugino in his paintings. ^[20]

Leonardo was more than thirty years older than Raphael, but Michelangelo, who was in Rome for this period, was just eight years his senior. Michelangelo already disliked Leonardo, and in Rome came to dislike Raphael even more, attributing conspiracies against him to the younger man. ^[21] Raphael would have been aware of his works in Florence, but in his most original work of these years, he strikes out in a different direction. His Deposition of Christ draws on classical sarcophagi to spread the figures across the front of the picture space in a complex and not wholly successful arrangement. The Deposition, also known as burial or Pala Baglioni or Deposizione Borghese, is an oil painting by the Italian High A sarcophagus is a Funeral receptacle for a Corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone Wöllflin detects the influence of the Madonna in Michelangelo's Doni Tondo in the kneeling figure on the right, but the rest of the composition is far removed from his style, or that of Leonardo. The Doni Tondo or Doni Madonna is the only known preserved panel picture painting by the Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo Buonarroti (c Though highly regarded at the time, and much later forcibly removed from Perugia by the Borghese, it stands rather alone in Raphael's work. Borghese is the surname of a family of Italian noble and papal background originating in Siena as the Borghese or Borghesi where they came to prominence in the 13th century His classicism would later take a less literal direction. ^[22]

The Ansidei Altarpiece, ca. 1505, beginning to move on from Perugino

The Madonna of the meadow, ca. 1506, using Leonardo's pyramidal composition for subjects of the Holy Family

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, 1507, borrows from the pose of Leonardo's Leda[23]

Deposition of Christ, 1507, drawing from Roman sarcophagi. The Deposition, also known as burial or Pala Baglioni or Deposizione Borghese, is an oil painting by the Italian High

Roman period

The Vatican "Stanze"

By the end of 1508, he had moved to Rome, where he lived for the rest of his life. He was invited by the new Pope Julius II, perhaps at the suggestion of his architect Donato Bramante, then engaged on St. Pope Julius II (5 December 1443 &ndash 21 February 1513 born Giuliano Della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513 Donato Bramante (1444 – March 11, 1514) was an Italian Architect, who introduced the Early Renaissance style to Milan and the High Renaissance Peter's, who came from just outside Urbino and was distantly related to Raphael. ^[24] Unlike Michelangelo, who had been kept hanging around in Rome for several months after his first summons,^[25] Raphael was immediately commissioned by Julius to fresco what was intended to become the Pope's private library at the Vatican Palace. ^[26] This was a much larger and more important commission than any he had received before; he had only painted one altarpiece in Florence itself. Several other artists and their teams of assistants were already at work on different rooms, many painting over recently completed paintings commissioned by Julius's loathed predecessor, Alexander VI, whose contributions, and arms, Julius was determined to efface from the palace. Pope Alexander VI ( 1 January 1431 &ndash 18 August 1503) born Roderic Llançol, later Roderic de Borja i Borja ( A coat of arms or armorial bearings (often just arms for short in European tradition is a design belonging to a particular person (or group of people ^[27] Michelangelo, meanwhile, had been commissioned to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512 is one of the most renowned artworks of the High Renaissance.

This first of the famous "Stanze" or "Raphael Rooms" to be painted, now always known as the Stanza della Segnatura after its use in Vasari's time, was to make a stunning impact on Roman art, and remains generally regarded as his greatest masterpiece, containing The School of Athens, The Parnassus and the Disputa. The Parnassus is a Painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. The four Stanze di Raffaello ("Raphael's rooms" in the Palace of the Vatican form a suite of reception rooms the public part of the papal apartments The four Stanze di Raffaello ("Raphael's rooms" in the Palace of the Vatican form a suite of reception rooms the public part of the papal apartments The four Stanze di Raffaello ("Raphael's rooms" in the Palace of the Vatican form a suite of reception rooms the public part of the papal apartments The School of Athens, or it Scuola di Atene in Italian, is one of the most famous Paintings by the Italian Renaissance artist The Parnassus is a Painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. The Disputation of the Sacrament ( La disputa del sacramento) or Disputa, is a Painting by the Italian Renaissance Raphael was then given further rooms to paint, displacing other artists including Perugino and Signorelli. He completed a sequence of three rooms, each with paintings on each wall and often the ceilings too, increasingly leaving the work of painting from his detailed drawings to the large and skilled workshop team he had acquired, who added a fourth room, probably only including some elements designed by Raphael, after his early death in 1520. The death of Julius in 1513 did not interrupt the work at all, as he was succeeded by Raphael's last Pope, the Medici Pope Leo X, with whom Raphael also got on very well, and who continued to commission him. Pope Leo X, born Giovanni de' Medici (December 11 1475 – December 1 1521 was Pope from 1513 to his death ^[28]

Raphael was clearly influenced by Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling in the course of painting the room. Vasari said Bramante let him in secretly, and the scaffolding was taken down in 1511 from the first completed section. The reaction of other artists to the daunting force of Michelangelo was the dominating question in Italian art for the following few decades, and Raphael, who had already shown his gift for absorbing influences into his own personal style, rose to the challenge perhaps better than any other artist. One of the first and clearest instances was the portrait in The School of Athens of Michelangelo himself, as Heraclitus, which seems to draw clearly from the Sybils and ignudi of the Sistine ceiling. Heraclitus of Ephesus ( Ancient Greek: &mdash grc-Latn ''Hērákleitos ho Ephésios'' English Heraclitus the Ephesian) (ca Other figures in that and later paintings in the room show the same influences, but as still cohesive with a development of Raphael's own style. ^[29] Michelangelo accused Raphael of plagiarism and years after Raphael's death, complained in a letter that "everything he knew about art he got from me", although other quotations show more generous reactions. ^[30][31]

These very large and complex compositions have been regarded ever since as among the supreme works of the grand manner of the High Renaissance, and the "classic art" of the post-antique West. Grand Manner refers to an idealized Aesthetic style derived from classical art, and the modern "classic art" of the High Renaissance. They give a highly idealised depiction of the forms represented, and the compositions, though very carefully conceived in drawings, achieve "sprezzatura", a term invented by his friend Castiglione, who defined it as "a certain nonchalance which conceals all artistry and makes whatever one says or does seem uncontrived and effortless . In Western civilization, Idealism is the philosophy which maintains that the Ultimate nature of reality is ideal or based upon ideas values essences The so-called Drawing is a Visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium . . "^[32] According to Michael Levey, "Raphael gives his [figures] a superhuman clarity and grace in a universe of Euclidian certainties". Sir Michael Vincent Levey LVO (born 1927 is a British Art historian and former director of the National Gallery, London. ^[33] The painting is nearly all of the highest quality in the first two rooms, but the later compositions in the Stanze, especially those involving dramatic action, are not entirely as successful either in conception or their execution by the workshop.

wide view of the Stanza della Segnatura with The School of Athens

The Mass at Bolsena, 1514, Stanza di Eliodoro

Deliverance of Saint Peter, 1514, Stanza di Eliodoro

The Fire in the Borgo, 1514, Stanza dell'incendio del Borgo, painted by the workshop to Raphael's design. The four Stanze di Raffaello ("Raphael's rooms" in the Palace of the Vatican form a suite of reception rooms the public part of the papal apartments The Mass at Bolsena is a Painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. The Deliverance of Saint Peter is a Painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael and his assistant Giulio Romano The Fire in the Borgo is a Painting by the workshop of the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael.

Other projects

The Vatican projects took most of his time, although he painted several portraits, including those of his two main patrons, the popes Julius II and his successor Leo X, the former considered one of his finest. The Portrait of Pope Julius II is a painting attributed to the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. The Portrait of Pope Leo X with two Cardinals is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance master Raphael, circa 1518-1519 Other portraits were of his own friends, like Castiglione, or the immediate Papal circle. Other rulers pressed for work, and François I of France was sent two paintings as diplomatic gifts from the Pope. Francis I (September 12 1494 &ndash March 31 1547 was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547 For Agostino Chigi the hugely rich banker and Papal Treasurer, he painted the Galatea, and designed further decorative frescoes, for his Villa Farnesina, and painted two chapels in the churches of Santa Maria della Pace and Santa Maria del Popolo. Agostino Chigi ( August 28 1465 - April 11 1520) was an Italian banker of the Renaissance. The Triumph of Galatea is a Fresco masterpiece completed in 1512 by the Italian painter Raphael for the Villa Farnesina Villa Farnesina is an artistically and architecturally influential Renaissance Villa in Via della Lungara, in the central district of Trastevere Santa Maria della Pace is one of the churches in Rome, not far from Piazza Navona. Santa Maria del Popolo is a notable Augustinian church located in Rome. He also designed some of the decoration for the Villa Madama, the work in both villas being executed by his workshop.

One of his most important papal commissions was the Raphael Cartoons (now Victoria and Albert Museum), a series of 10 cartoons (of which seven survive) for tapestries with scenes of the lives of Saint Paul and Saint Peter for the Sistine Chapel. The Raphael Cartoons are seven large Cartoons for tapestries, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, painted by the High Renaissance The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design housing a permanent collection The word cartoon has various meanings based on several very different forms of Visual art and Illustration. Paul the apostle (שאול התרסי Šaʾul HaTarsi, meaning " Saul of Tarsus " Σαούλ Saul and Σαῦλος Saulos and Sistine Chapel (Cappella Sistina is the best-known Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. The cartoons were sent to Brussels to be woven in the workshop of Pier van Aelst. Brussels (Bruxelles pronounced; Brussel pronounced) officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is Pieter van Aelst or Pieter Coecke van Aelst ( August 14, 1502 - December 6, 1550) was a Flemish painter. It is possible that Raphael saw the finished series before his death—they were probably completed in 1520. ^[34] He also designed and painted the Loggia at the Vatican, a long thin gallery then open to a courtyard on one side, decorated with Roman-style grottesche. When used in conversation grotesque commonly means strange fantastic ugly or bizarre and thus is often used to describe weird shapes and distorted forms such as Halloween ^[35] He produced a number of significant altarpieces, including The Ecstasy of St. Cecilia and the Sistine Madonna. The Ecstasis of St Cecilia is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. The Sistine Madonna is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael, circa 1512-1514 His last work, on which he was working up to his death, was a large Transfiguration, which together with Il Spasimo shows the direction his art was taking in his final years—more proto-Baroque than Mannerist. The Transfiguration is considered the last painting by the Italian High Renaissance master Raphael. Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary, also known as Sicilia's Spasimo, is a painting of the Italian High Renaissance master Baroque art redirects here Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc Mannerism is a period of European art which emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. ^[36]

Galatea,1512, his only major mythology, for Chigi's villa. The Triumph of Galatea is a Fresco masterpiece completed in 1512 by the Italian painter Raphael for the Villa Farnesina

The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, 1515, one of the seven remaining Raphael Cartoons for tapestries

Il Spasimo 1517, brings a new degree of expressiveness to his art. The Raphael Cartoons are seven large Cartoons for tapestries, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, painted by the High Renaissance Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary, also known as Sicilia's Spasimo, is a painting of the Italian High Renaissance master

Transfiguration, 1520, unfinished at his death. The Transfiguration is considered the last painting by the Italian High Renaissance master Raphael.

Workshop

Vasari says that Raphael eventually had a workshop of fifty pupils and assistants, many of whom later became significant artists in their own right. This was arguably the largest workshop team assembled under any single old master painter, and much higher than the norm. " Old Master " (or " old master " is a term for a European painter of skill who worked before about 1800, or a painting by such They included established masters from other parts of Italy, probably working with their own teams as sub-contractors, as well as pupils and journeymen. We have very little evidence of the internal working arrangements of the workshop, apart from the works of art themselves, often very difficult to assign to a particular hand.

The most important figures were Giulio Romano, a young pupil from Rome (only about twenty-one at Raphael's death), and Gianfrancesco Penni, already a Florentine master. Giulio Romano (c 1499 &ndash November 1, 1546) was an Italian painter and architect. Gianfrancesco Penni, also known as Giovan Francesco (1488/1496 &ndash 1528 was an Italian painter student of Raphael. They were left many of Raphael's drawings and other possessions, and to some extent continued the workshop after Raphael's death. Penni did not achieve a personal reputation equal to Giulio's, as after Raphael's death he became Giulio's less-than-equal collaborator in turn for much of his subsequent career. Perino del Vaga, already a master, and Polidoro da Caravaggio, who was supposedly promoted from a labourer carrying building materials on the site, also became notable painters in their own right. Perino del Vaga or Perin del Vaga, nickname of Piero Buonaccorsi (1501 – October 14, 1547) was an Italian painter of the Late Polidoro Caldara, usually known as Polidoro da Caravaggio ( Caravaggio, 1492 or 1495 &ndash Messina, 1543 was a mainly decorative painter of the early Polidoro's partner, Maturino da Firenze, has, like Penni, been overshadowed in subsequent reputation by his partner. Maturino da Firenze (1490 — 1528 was an Italian painter born in Florence, but working in Rome during the Renaissance. Most of the artists were later scattered, and some killed, by the violent Sack of Rome in 1527. The Sack of Rome on 6 May 1527, carried out by the mutinous troops of Charles V Holy Roman Emperor, marked a crucial imperial victory in ^[37] This did however contribute to the diffusion of versions of Raphael's style around Italy and beyond.

Vasari emphasises that Raphael ran a very harmonious and efficient workshop, and had extraordinary skill in smoothing over troubles and arguments with both patrons and his assistants - a contrast with the stormy pattern of Michelangelo's relationships with both. ^[38] However though both Penni and Giulio were sufficiently skilled that distinguishing between their hands and that of Raphael himself is still sometimes difficult,^[39] there is no doubt that many of Raphael's later wall-paintings, and probably some of his easel paintings, are more notable for their design than their execution. Many of his portraits, if in good condition, show his brilliance in the detailed handling of paint right up to the end of his life. ^[40]

Other pupils or assistants include Raffaellino del Colle, Andrea Sabbatini, Bartolommeo Ramenghi, Pellegrino Aretusi, Vincenzo Tamagni, Battista Dossi, Tommaso Vincidor, Timoteo Viti (the Urbino painter), and the sculptor and architect Lorenzetto (Giulio's brother-in-law). Raffaellino del Colle (1490 &ndash 1556 was an Italian Mannerist painter active mostly in Umbria. Andrea Sabbatini (1487 - 1530 (var Andrea Sabatini) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, born in Salerno (thus he is Bartolommeo Ramenghi, also called Bagnacavallo (1484-1542 was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active in Emilia-Romagna. Pellegrino Aretusi (ca 1460-1523 also known as Pellegrini de Modena and as Pellegrino Munari, was an Italian painter who was born in Modena Italy Vincenzo Tamagni (1492 - c 1516 was an Italian painter of the Renaissance. Battista Dossi (ca 1490-1548 also known as Battista de Luteri, was an Italian painter who belonged to the Ferrara School of Painting. Tommaso di Andrea Vincidor ( Bologna, 1493 &ndash Breda, 1536 was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect who trained with Raphael and Timoteo Viti, sometimes called Timoteo della Viti or Timoteo da Urbino (1469 &ndash 1523 was an Italian Renaissance painter, who Lorenzo Lotti, also known as Lorenzetto, (1490 &ndash 1541 born Lorenzo di Lodovico di Guglielmo was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect in the circle of ^[41] Giovanni da Udine worked mostly as a stuccoist. Giovanni Nanni, also Giovanni de' Ricamatori, better known as Giovanni da Udine (1487-1564 was an Italian painter and architect born in Udine The printmakers and architects in Raphael's circle are discussed below. It has been claimed the Flemish Bernard van Orley worked for Raphael for a time, and Luca Penni, brother of Gianfrancesco, may have been a member of the team. Bernard van Orley (Brussels between 1487 and 1491 &ndash Brussels 6 January 1541) also called Barend van Orley, Bernaert van Orley or Barend van ^[42]

Portraits

Portrait of Elisabetta Gonzaga, ca. The Portrait of Elisabetta Gonzaga is a picture painted around 1504 by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. 1504	Portrait of Pope Julius II, ca. The Portrait of Pope Julius II is a painting attributed to the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. 1512	Portrait of Bindo Altoviti, ca. The Portrait of Bindo Altoviti is a painting finished around 1514 by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. 1514	Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, ca. Baldasare Castiglione, count of Novellata ( December 15, 1478 &ndash February 28, 1529) was an Italian Courtier, 1515.
Self-Potrait of Raphael

Architecture

After Bramante's death in 1514, he was named architect of the new St Peter's. The Basilica of Saint Peter (Basilica Sancti Petri officially known in Italian as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St Most of his work there was altered or demolished after his death and the acceptance of Michelangelo's design, but a few drawings have survived. It appears his designs would have made the church a good deal gloomier than the final design, with massive piers all the way down the nave, "like an alley" according to a critical posthumous analysis by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, born Antonio Cordiani ( April 12, 1484 - August 3, 1546) was an Italian architect active It would perhaps have resembled the temple in the background of the The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple. The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple is a Painting of the Italian Renaissance painter Raphael. ^[43]

He designed several other buildings, and for a short time was the most important architect in Rome, working for a small circle around the Papacy. Julius had made changes to the street plan of Rome, creating several new thoroughfares, and he wanted them filled with splendid palaces.

An important building, the Palazzo Aquila for the Papal Chamberlain, was completely destroyed to make way for Bernini's piazza for St. A chamberlain is an officer in charge of managing a household. "Bernini" redirects here For people named Bernini see Bernini (surname. Peter's, but drawings of the facade and courtyard remain. The facade was an unusually richly decorated one for the period, including both painted panels on the top story (of three), and much sculpture on the middle one. ^[44]

The main designs for the Villa Farnesina were not by Raphael, but he did design, and paint, the Chigi Chapel for the same patron, Agostino Chigi, the Papal Treasurer. The Chigi Chapel is one of six chapels in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, Piazza del Popolo, Rome Agostino Chigi ( August 28 1465 - April 11 1520) was an Italian banker of the Renaissance. Another building, for the Pope's doctor, the Palazzo di Jacobo da Brescia, was moved in the 1930s but survives; this was designed to complement a palace on the same street by Bramante, where Raphael himself lived for a time.

The Villa Madama, a lavish hillside retreat for Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, later Pope Clement VII, was never finished, and his full plans have to be reconstructed speculatively. The Chigi Chapel is one of six chapels in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, Piazza del Popolo, Rome Even uncompleted the Villa Madama, in Rome, Italy, with its Loggia and segmental columned garden court and its casino with an open center was one For the Antipope (1378&ndash1394 see Antipope Clement VII. Pope Clement VII ( May 26, 1478 &ndash September He produced a design from which the final construction plans were completed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, born Antonio Cordiani ( April 12, 1484 - August 3, 1546) was an Italian architect active Even incomplete, it was the most sophisticated villa design yet seen in Italy, and greatly influenced the later development of the genre; it appears to be the only modern building in Rome of which Palladio made a measured drawing. Andrea Palladio ( November 30, 1508 – August 19, 1580) was an Italian Architect, widely considered the most influential ^[45]

Only some floor-plans remain for a large palace planned for himself on the new "Via Giulia" in the Borgo, for which he was accumulating the land in his last years. Borgo (sometimes called also I Borghi) is the 14th historic district ( Rione) of Rome. It was on an irregular island block near the river Tiber. It seems all facades were to have a giant order of pilasters rising at least two storeys to the full height of the piano nobile, "a gandiloquent feature unprecedented in private palace design". In Classical architecture, a giant order is an order whose Columns or Pilasters span two (or more stories A pilaster is a slightly-projecting flattened Column built into or applied to the face of a wall The piano nobile is the principal Floor of a large House, usually built in one of the styles of classical renaissance architecture. ^[46]

In 1515 he was given powers as "Prefect" over all antiquities unearthed entrusted within the city, or a mile outside. Raphael wrote a letter to the Pope suggesting ways of halting the destruction of ancient monuments, and proposed a visual survey of the city to record all antiquities in an organised fashion. The Pope's concerns were not exactly the same; he intended to continue to re-use ancient masonry in the building of St Peter's, but wanted to ensure that all ancient inscriptions were recorded, and sculpture preserved, before allowing the stones to be reused. ^[47]

Drawings

Raphael was one of the finest draftsmen in the history of Western art, and used drawings extensively to plan his compositions. According to a near-contemporary, when beginning to plan a composition, he would lay out a large number of stock drawings of his on the floor, and begin to draw "rapidly", borrowing figures from here and there. ^[49] Over forty sketches survive for the Disputa in the Stanze, and there may well have been many more originally; over four hundred sheets survive altogether. ^[50] He used different drawings to refine his poses and compositions, apparently to a greater extent than most other painters, to judge by the number of variants that survive: ". . . This is how Raphael himself, who was so rich in inventiveness, used to work, always coming up with four or six ways to show a narrative, each one different from the rest, and all of them full of grace and well done. " wrote another writer after his death. ^[51] For John Shearman, Raphael's art marks "a shift of resources away from production to research and development". ^[52]

When a final composition was achieved, scaled-up full-size cartoons were often made, which were then pricked with a pin and "pounced" with a bag of soot to leave dotted lines on the surface as a guide. He also made unusually extensive use, on both paper and plaster, of a "blind stylus", scratching lines which leave only an indentation, but no mark. These can be seen on the wall in The School of Athens, and in the originals of many drawings. ^[53] The "Raphael Cartoons", as tapestry designs, were fully coloured in a glue distemper medium, as they were sent to Brussels to be followed by the weavers. There are two distinct types of paint known as distemper: soft distemper and oil bound distemper

In later works painted by the workshop, the drawings are often painfully more attractive than the paintings. ^[54] Most Raphael drawings are rather precise—even initial sketches with naked outline figures are carefully drawn, and later working drawings often have a high degree of finish, with shading and sometimes highlights in white. They lack the freedom and energy of some of Leonardo's and Michelangelo's sketches, but are nearly always aesthetically very satisfying. He was one of the last artists to use metalpoint (literally a sharp pointed piece of sliver or another metal) extensively, although he also made superb use of the freer medium of red or black chalk. Silverpoint is a traditional drawing technique first used by Medieval scribes on manuscripts ^[55] In his final years he was one of the first artists to use female models for preparatory drawings—male pupils ("garzoni") were normally used for studies of both sexes. ^[56]

Printmaking

Raphael made no prints himself, but entered into a collaboration with Marcantonio Raimondi to produce engravings to Raphael's designs, which created many of the most famous Italian prints of the century, and was important in the rise of the reproductive print. An old master print is a work of art produced by a Printing process within the Western tradition (European or New World Marcantonio Raimondi, also simply Marcantonio, (c 1480 &ndash c Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it An old master print is a work of art produced by a Printing process within the Western tradition (European or New World His interest was unusual in such a major artist; from his contemporaries only Titian, who had worked much less successfully with Raimondi, shared it. Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c 1485 &ndash August 27 1576 better known as Titian, was the leading painter of the 16th-century Venetian ^[57] A total of about fifty prints were made; some were copies of Raphael's paintings, but other designs were apparently created by Raphael purely to be turned into prints. Raphael made preparatory drawings, many of which survive, for Raimondi to translate into engraving. The most famous original prints to result from the collaboration were Lucretia, the Judgement of Paris and The Massacre of the Innocents (of which two virtually identical versions were engraved); prints of the paintings The Parnassus (with considerable differences)^[58] and Galatea were also especially well-known. The Parnassus is a Painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. Outside Italy, reproductive prints by Raimondi and others were the main way that Raphael's art was experienced until the twentieth century. Baviero Carocci, called "Il Baviera" by Vasari, an assistant or servant who Raphael evidently trusted with his money, ended up in control of most of the copper plates after Raphael's death, and had a successful career in the new occupation of a publisher of prints. ^[59]

Drawing for a Sybyl in the Chigi Chapel. The word sibyl probably comes (via Latin) from the Greek word sibylla, meaning Prophetess (Other schools of thought suggest that the word The Chigi Chapel is one of six chapels in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, Piazza del Popolo, Rome

The Massacre of the Innocents, engraving by (?) Raimondi from a design by Raphael. The version "without fir tree".

Judgement of Paris, still influencing Manet, who used the seated group in his most famous work. Le déjeuner sur l'herbe ( The Lunch on the Grass in French originally titled Le Bain ( The Bath) is an Oil on canvas painting by

Galatea, engraving after the fresco in the Villa Farnesina

Private life and death

Raphael lived in the Borgo, in rather grand style in a palace designed by Bramante. He never married, but in 1514 became engaged to Maria Bibbiena, Cardinal Medici Bibbiena's niece; he seems to have been talked into this by his friend the Cardinal, and his lack of enthusiasm seems to be shown by the marriage not taking place before she died in 1520. ^[60] He is said to have had many affairs, but a permanent fixture in his life in Rome was La Fornarina, Margherita Luti, the daughter of a baker (fornaro) named Francesco Luti from Siena who lived at Via del Governo Vecchio. ^[61] He was made a "Groom of the Chamber" of the Pope, which gave him status at court and an additional income. Valet de chambre, or varlet de chambre, was a court appointment introduced in the late Middle Ages, common from the 14th century onwards Vasari claims he had toyed with the ambition of becoming a Cardinal, perhaps after some encouragement from Leo, which also may account for his delaying his marriage. A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. ^[62]

According to Vasari, Raphael's premature death on Good Friday (April 6, 1520) (possibly his 37th birthday), was caused by a night of excessive sex with her, after which he fell into a fever and, not telling his doctors that this was its cause, was given the wrong cure, which killed him. Good Friday, also called Holy Friday or Great Friday, is the Friday preceding Easter Sunday ("Pascha" Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the Battle of Thapsus ^[63]

Whatever the cause, in his acute illness, which lasted fifteen days, Raphael was composed enough to receive the last rites, and to put his affairs in order. Anointing of the Sick is the ritual anointing of a sick person and is a Sacrament of the Catholic Church. He dictated his will, in which he left sufficient funds for his mistress's care, entrusted to his loyal servant Baviera, and left most of his studio contents to Giulio Romano and Penni. At his request, Raphael was buried in the Pantheon. The Pantheon ( Latin Pantheon, from Greek Πάνθειον Pantheon, meaning "Temple of all the gods" is a building in Rome ^[64]

Vasari, in his biography of Raphael, says that Raphael was also born on a Good Friday, which in 1483 fell on March 28. This would mean that while Raphael was born and died on Good Friday, he was actually older than 37 on the 1520 Good Friday which fell on April 6. ^[65]

His funeral was extremely grand, attended by large crowds. The inscription in his marble sarcophagus, a distich written by Pietro Bembo, reads: "Ille hic est Raffael, timuit quo sospite vinci, rerum magna parens et moriente mori. A couplet is a pair of lines of verse. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter Pietro Bembo ( May 20, 1470 - either 11 January or 18 January, 1547 was an Italian scholar poet literary theorist and " Meaning: "Here lies that famous Raphael by whom Nature feared to be outdone while he lived, and when he died, feared herself to die. "

Critical reception

Raphael was highly admired by his contemporaries, although his influence on artistic style in his own century was less than that of Michelangelo. The Sistine Madonna is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael, circa 1512-1514 Mannerism, beginning at the time of his death, and later the Baroque, took art "in a direction totally opposed" to Raphael's qualities;^[66] "with Raphael's death, classic art - the High Renaissance - subsided", as Walter Friedländer put it. Mannerism is a period of European art which emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. Baroque art redirects here Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc Walter Ferdinand Friedlaender ( March 10, 1873 - September 8, 1966) was a German Art historian. ^[67] He was soon seen as the ideal model by those disliking the excesses of Mannerism:

the opinion . . . was generally held in the middle of the sixteenth century that Raphael was the ideal balanced painter, universal in his talent, satisfying all the absolute standards, and obeying all the rules which were supposed to govern the arts, whereas Michelangelo was the eccentric genius, more brilliant than any other artists in his particular field, the drawing of the male nude, but unbalanced and lacking in certain qualities, such as grace and restraint, essential to the great artist. Those, like Dolce and Aretino, who held this view were usually the survivors of Renaissance Humanism, unable to follow Michelangelo as he moved on into Mannerism. Aretino is a Surname or nickname (meaning 'from Arezzo ' and may refer to Maginardo (fl Renaissance Humanism was a European intellectual movement beginning in Florence in the last decades of the 14th century ^[68]

Vasari himself, despite his hero remaining Michelangelo, came to see his influence as harmful in some ways, and added passages to the second edition of the Lives expressing similar views. The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters Sculptors and Architects, or Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori scultori ed architettori as it was originally known ^[69] Raphael's compositions were always admired and studied, and became the cornerstone of the training of the Academies of art. Academic art is a style of Painting and Sculpture produced under the influence of European academies or universities His period of greatest influence was from the late 17th to late 19th centuries, when his perfect decorum and balance were greatly admired. He was seen as the best model for the history painting, regarded as the highest in the hierarchy of genres. History painting, as formulated in 1667 by André Félibien, a historiographer architect and theoretician of French Classicism, was in the Hierarchy A hierarchy of genres is any formalization which ranks different types of Genres in an art-form in terms of their value Sir Joshua Reynolds in his Discourses praised his "simple, grave, and majestic dignity" and said he "stands in general foremost of the first [ie best] painters", especially for his frescoes (in which he included the "Raphael Cartoons"), whereas "Michael Angelo claims the next attention. Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA (16 July 1723 &ndash 23 February 1792 was the most important and influential of 18th century English painters He did not possess so many excellences as Raffaelle, but those he had were of the highest kind. . . " Echoing the sixteenth-century views above, Reynolds goes on to say of Raphael:

The excellency of this extraordinary man lay in the propriety, beauty, and majesty of his characters, his judicious contrivance of his composition, correctness of drawing, purity of taste, and the skilful accommodation of other men’s conceptions to his own purpose. Nobody excelled him in that judgment, with which he united to his own observations on nature the energy of Michael Angelo, and the beauty and simplicity of the antique. To the question, therefore, which ought to hold the first rank, Raffaelle or Michael Angelo, it must be answered, that if it is to be given to him who possessed a greater combination of the higher qualities of the art than any other man, there is no doubt but Raffaelle is the first. But if, according to Longinus, the sublime, being the highest excellence that human composition can attain to, abundantly compensates the absence of every other beauty, and atones for all other deficiencies, then Michael Angelo demands the preference. Longinus (Λογγῖνος is the conventional name of the author of the treatise On the Sublime (Περὶ ὕψους a work which focuses on the effect of ^[70]

Reynolds was less enthusiastic about Raphael's panel paintings, but the slight sentimentality of these made them enormously popular in the 19th century:"We have been familiar with them from childhood onwards, through a far greater mass of reproductions than any other artist in the world has ever had. . . " wrote Wölfflin, who was born in 1862, of Raphael's Madonnas. Heinrich Wölfflin ( June 21 1864 &ndash July 19 1945) was a famous Swiss Art critic, whose objective classifying principles ^[71]

In 19th century England the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood explicitly reacted against his influence (and that of his admirers such as "Sir Sploshua"), seeking to return to styles before what they saw as his baneful influence. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (also known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters Poets, and critics founded in 1848 by According to John Ruskin:

The doom of the arts of Europe went forth from that chamber [the Stanza della Segnatura], and it was brought about in great part by the very excellencies of the man who had thus marked the commencement of decline. John Ruskin (8 February 1819 &ndash 20 January 1900 is best known for his work as an Art critic, sage writer, and Social critic, but is remembered The perfection of execution and the beauty of feature which were attained in his works, and in those of his great contemporaries, rendered finish of execution and beauty of form the chief objects of all artists; and thenceforward execution was looked for rather than thought, and beauty rather than veracity.

And as I told you, these are the two secondary causes of the decline of art; the first being the loss of moral purpose. Pray note them clearly. In mediæval art, thought is the first thing, execution the second; in modern art execution is the first thing, and thought the second. And again, in mediæval art, truth is first, beauty second; in modern art, beauty is first, truth second. The mediæval principles led up to Raphael, and the modern principles lead down from him. ^[72]

He was still seen by 20th century critics like Bernard Berenson as the "most famous and most loved" master of the High Renaissance,^[73] but it would seem he has since been overtaken by Michelangelo and Leonardo in this respect. Bernard Berenson (born June 26, 1865 Butrimonys (now in Alytus district of Lithuania) &ndash October 6, 1959 Florence ^[74]

See also

• List of works by Raphael
• Renaissance painting
• Italian Renaissance

Notes

Main references

• Blunt, Anthony, Artistic Theory in Italy, 1450-1660, 1940 (refs to 1985 edn), OUP, ISBN0198810504
• Gould, Cecil, The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools, National Gallery Catalogues, London 1975, ISBN 0947645225
• Roger Jones and Nicholas Penny, Raphael, Yale, 1983, ISBN 0300030614
• Landau, David in:David Landau & Peter Parshall, The Renaissance Print, Yale, 1996, ISBN 0300068832
• Pon, Lisa, Raphael, Dürer, and Marcantonio Raimondi, Copying and the Italian Renaissance Print, 2004, Yale UP, ISBN 9780300096804
• Vasari, selected & ed Malcolm Bull, Artists of the Renaissance, Penguin 1965 (page nos from BCA edn, 1979)
• Wölfflin, Heinrich; Classic Art; An Introduction to the Renaissance, 1952 in English (1968 edition), Phaidon, New York. Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 Bournemouth, Hampshire &ndash 26 March 1983 Westminster, London) known as Sir Anthony Cecil Hilton Monk Gould (24 May 1918 &ndash 7 April 1994 was a British Art historian and Curator who specialised in Renaissance painting Nicholas Penny (born December 21, 1949) is a British Art historian. Giorgio Vasari ( 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian painter and Architect, who is today famous Heinrich Wölfflin ( June 21 1864 &ndash July 19 1945) was a famous Swiss Art critic, whose objective classifying principles

Further reading

The standard source of biographical information is now: V. Golzio, Raffaello nei documenti nelle testimonianze dei contemporanei e nella letturatura del suo secolo, Vatican City and Westmead, 1971

External links

• V&A London online feature on the Raphael Cartoons
• Ten drawings and three paintings from the Royal Collection
• Web Gallery of Art
• Most of the Raphael/Raimondi prints from the San Francisco Museums
• smARThistory: Raphael's Alba Madonna

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