Raphael

Raphael

 Raphael of Urbino lived more like a nobleman than an artist. He was born on April 6, 1483, the son of an unsuccessful painter. When he was about twenty-five, he went to Rome and won fame and fortune as an architect and painter. He painted natural looking settings of people who looked real. His paintings were full of motion, gestures, and animation. He built himself a palace and lived on a grand scale. He worked for Pope Julius and Pope Leo in the Vatican painting frescoes on philosophy and theology. He learned from the artists of his time and from the ancients. He dug under the streets of Rome and found important sculptures and monuments from years earlier. He was renowned as an archaeologist.

Cupids

Madonna of the Goldfinch

Raphael was commissioned to paint the portrait of "Bindo Altoviti" at age thirty. He painted Plato and Aristotle in his mural "School of Athens" which showed much Greek history. He showed his mastery of form and color. In his painting "The Marriage of a Virgin" he combined portrait, landscape and architectural painting. Raphael succeeded Bramante as architect of St. Peter's Basilica, in Rome. He became one of Rome's respected and learned men known for his knowledge, architecture and art. Raphael died on his 37th birthday, April 6, 1520.

The Marriage of a Virgin

The Holy Family