Artists and Writers

Raphael [Raffaello Sanzio] (1483-1520)

Regarded as one of the three – along with da Vinci and Michelangelo – most influential painters of the Renaissance, Raphael showed an early inclination towards art, influenced by his father who also painted. Raphael was still a child when both parents died, and most sources note that he studied under Pietro Perugino in the early 1500s. (Perugino schooled with da Vinci.) All Raphael’s early paintings, most notably Marriage of the Virgin show the influence of Perugino.

Raphael moved to Florence in 1504 and stayed until 1508, studying the works of da Vinci and Michelangelo, further crafting his style, and producing a series of Madonna paintings, including the most well-known, Sistine Madonna. In 1508, Pope Julius II commissioned Raphael to paint murals in several rooms of the Vatican Palace. Under Pope Leo X, Raphael became chief architect of Saint Peter's Basilica, and director of excavations and Rome’s antiquities. He continued to paint the Madonna and Child in various settings, and created 10 drawings, known as cartoons, for the Sistine Chapel. Raphael died at 37, on the dame day he was born – April 6^th.

LINKS:

Biography and Works of Raphael

The Raphael Cartoons

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Written by Janice Mancuso

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