Raphael

Urbino

His full name was Raffaello Sanzio.

💡 Did you know? Raphael's father was himself a court painter in Urbino and introduced his son to art early.

Renaissance

Raphael was, with Leonardo and Michelangelo, one of the three great masters of the Italian High Renaissance.

💡 Did you know? Though the youngest of the trio and shortest-lived, his style was held for centuries to be the perfect ideal.

harmony and grace

Raphael's art is famous for its clear harmony, grace and balanced composition.

💡 Did you know? For centuries art academies taught after Raphael as the „perfect“ painter: until modernism rebelled against it.

The School of Athens

It gathers the great thinkers of antiquity in a magnificent hall.

💡 Did you know? In the „School of Athens“ Raphael immortalised ancient thinkers: Plato reportedly bears Leonardo's features, and Raphael painted himself at the edge.

the Pope

Popes Julius II and Leo X commissioned Raphael to decorate the Vatican chambers (Stanze).

💡 Did you know? Raphael also briefly directed the building of St Peter's; he was painter, architect and overseer of antiquities at once.

died at 37 (1520)

Raphael died in 1520 on his 37th birthday; all Rome mourned, and he was buried in the Pantheon.

💡 Did you know? All of Rome mourned him, the most celebrated painter of his day.

The School of Athens

A fresco in the Vatican apartments, around 1510 to 1511.

💡 Did you know? Here Raphael gathered the greatest thinkers of antiquity: at the centre Plato and Aristotle.

Sistine Madonna

Around 1512: famous for the two dreamy angels at the bottom.

💡 Did you know? The two dreamy cherubs at the bottom became world-famous in their own right: on postcards and mugs.

The Raphael Rooms

Painted around 1508.

💡 Did you know? To decorate the papal rooms Raphael employed a whole workshop of young talents.

La fornarina

Painted around 1519.

💡 Did you know? The sitter is thought to be Raphael's secret lover; his name is on her armband.

Madonna of the Goldfinch

Painted around 1505.

💡 Did you know? The little goldfinch was seen as a foreshadowing of Christ's later Passion.

The Marriage of the Virgin

Painted around 1504.

💡 Did you know? An early masterpiece: Raphael proudly signed it with his name and date on the temple pediment.

Disputation of the Holy Sacrament

Painted around 1509.

💡 Did you know? The counterpart to the „School of Athens“: theology and philosophy united in one room.

Galatea

Painted around 1510.

💡 Did you know? The nymph gliding over the waves is seen as the epitome of serene Renaissance beauty.

Alba Madonna

Painted around 1510.

💡 Did you know? A tondo in which Raphael arranges mother and children into perfect harmony.

La Velata

Painted around 1513.

💡 Did you know? The „veiled woman“ probably depicts the same woman as „La Fornarina.“

Madonna del Granduca

Painted around 1506.

💡 Did you know? Against a dark ground the Madonna glows: a favourite of later grand dukes of Tuscany.

Raphael

Raphael (1483 to 1520) was, with Leonardo and Michelangelo, the third great master of the Italian High Renaissance, famous for his graceful Madonnas and „The School of Athens.“

💡 Did you know? Raphael died at only 37 at the height of his fame; his style was afterwards the standard of all painting for centuries.