Raphael was an Italian painter and architect of the Italian high renaissance. His full name is Raphaello Sanzi or Santi and he is best known for his beautiful Madonnas. He is also famous for his large figure compositions in the Vatican in Rome.He was born (in Urbino, Italy) in 1483, son of Giovanni Santi and Magia di Battista Ciarla. Unfortunately his mother died in 1491 when Raphael was only 8 years old. His father gave his son his first instruction in painting, but sadly died in 1494 when Raphael was 11.Urbino had become a centre of culture during the rule of the Duke Federico ...view middle of the document...
In 1504, Raphael was drawn to Florence by the work that Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were undertaking in the city. Here his principal teachers were Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Leonardo influenced Raphael's series of Madonnas and Raphael owes many of his techniques to Leonardo, such as lighting techniques and sfumato*.Raphael was called to Rome in 1508 by Pope Julius II. At this time Raphael was little known but the young master soon made a deep impression and his authority grew. He eventually became so popular that he was called "the prince of painters".He spent his last 12 years of his short life in Rome. They were years of busy activity and successive masterpieces, and perhaps the decoration of the stanza was his greatest work. The Pope commissioned many paintings and Leo X commissioned Raphael to design 10 tapestries and chose him to work on the basilica of St Peter's. Raphael also designed churches and painted many more Madonnas.Raphael died on his 37th birthday. His funeral mass was celebrated at the Vatican and his last masterpiece 'Transfiguration' was placed at the head of bier. Finally his body was buried in the pantheon in Rome.*sfumato - the use of extremely fine, soft shading instead of line to delineate forms and features
