The School of Athens (1509–1511)
Stanza della Segnatura, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City
Plato (with Leonardo's features) and Aristotle at centre; Raphael includes himself on the right
Image: Raphael · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Art
Raphael
1483–1520 · Italian (from Urbino)
High Renaissance
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, completes the High Renaissance trinity with Leonardo and Michelangelo. Celebrated for clarity, harmony and grace, he painted serene Madonnas and the Vatican frescoes including The School of Athens before his death in Rome at just 37.
How to spot them
- ▸Balanced, harmonious compositions with calm idealised faces, sweet Madonnas and clear, bright colour
- ▸Grand architectural settings peopled by philosophers or saints, arranged with perfect symmetry
- ▸Quiz clue: 'Urbino', 'Perugino's pupil', 'Stanze', 'Pope Julius II', 'died on Good Friday aged 37', 'buried in the Pantheon'
Key works
Sistine Madonna (c. 1513–1514)
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden
Famous for the two bored-looking cherubs leaning on the ledge at the bottom
Image: Raphael · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Transfiguration (1516–1520)
Pinacoteca Vaticana, Vatican City
His last painting, displayed at his funeral
Image: Raphael · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione (c. 1514–1515)
Louvre, Paris
The author of The Book of the Courtier, the model Renaissance gentleman
Image: Raphael · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
La Fornarina (1518–1519)
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica (Palazzo Barberini), Rome
Traditionally his lover Margherita Luti, the baker's daughter; his name is on her armband
Image: Raphael · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
The Marriage of the Virgin (Lo Sposalizio) (1504)
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
Early work closely modelled on his teacher Perugino's version
Image: Raphael · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Quick-fire facts
- •He was born in Urbino, son of the court painter Giovanni Santi, and trained with Perugino
- •In The School of Athens, Heraclitus is thought to have Michelangelo's features
- •He died in Rome on 6 April 1520, Good Friday, traditionally on his 37th birthday
- •He is buried in the Pantheon, Rome
- •Pope Leo X made him architect of St Peter's in 1514
- •The Sistine Madonna was moved to Dresden in 1754 and was taken to Moscow after World War II before being returned
- •His tapestry cartoons for the Sistine Chapel are in the V&A, on loan from the Royal Collection
- •The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood took its name in reaction against the academic tradition descended from him
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Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Raphael
- E. H. Gombrich — The Story of Art