Raphael Santi (1483 -1520), known as Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, or Raphael, was a famous Italian painter and the youngest of the ‘Post-Renaissance Three’. The youngest of the Post-Renaissance Three, he represents the pinnacle of what the Renaissance artist could achieve in the pursuit of the ideal of beauty. He enjoys the greatest honour of being the painter at the Vatican’s court and, together with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, is known as one of the three greats of the Italian Renaissance.
Artistic achievements
He was a calm and refined artist, whose works reflect peace, harmony, harmony, symmetry and perfect and serene order. His paintings are dominated by those depicting the Madonna, who is a beautiful, kind-hearted and ordinary mother in life. They are often painted in a slightly sideways, half-body pose, with the background hidden and only the natural, intimate appearance of the figure standing out in the picture. The Madonna series is a rare masterpiece in the history of art and has led to the customary association of Raphael with the image of the delicate and supple Madonna.
He took the artistic ideals of Renaissance Neoplatonism and easily visualised them, drawing on the techniques of the masters of his time to create a harmonious beauty that is soft, rounded and full. In particular, he is able to portray traditional religious subjects in a secular manner as ideal beauty in real life, celebrating the glory of humanity. Raphael’s paintings are full of happiness and joy, bringing the humanism of the Renaissance to the fore with his polished painting technique.
Although Raphael left behind few works, the brilliance of his work has had a profound impact on future generations. His art has come to be known as ‘classicism’ and inspired not only the Baroque style but also the classical school in 17th century France. In terms of art history, Raphael was not only a Renaissance painter, but also opened up a new window of creativity for future generations.
Raphael’s masterpieces include The Marriage of the Virgin, The Sistine Madonna and The Academy of Athens.
Biography
Born in Urbino on 6 April 1483, he died in Rome on 6 April 1520. Formerly known as Raffaello San Giorgio.
Raphael studied painting at an early age with his father, the court painter to the Duke of Urbino, and then under Perugino, whom he graduated in 1500. Raphael’s early works reveal a remarkable genius, and his Marriage of the Virgin, painted at the age of 21, shows not only that he had fully absorbed the essence of Perugino’s art, but also that he had gone on to make innovations in both composition and figuration. In particular, the balance of the picture and the depiction of the background, with the Virgin Mary and her husband Joseph depicted in a dignified and elegant manner, are rare in the works of previous painters.
Our Lady of Ancestry
He stayed in Florence from 1504 to 1508, where he was influenced by the once restored republican politics, democratic spirit and humanist ideas. At the same time, he was able to appreciate the artistic characteristics of the masters of the various schools of painting and to draw on the strengths of all of them, particularly the compositional techniques of Leonardo da Vinci and the expressive and powerful style of Michelangelo, so that his beautiful style, with its unique classical spirit, became increasingly sophisticated, and he quickly achieved the great achievement of being on a par with da Vinci and Michelangelo. His series of portraits of the Virgin, unlike their medieval counterparts, embody humanist ideas with their maternal warmth and youthful beauty.
The best known of these are.
Madonna with an Oriole in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Madonna in the Meadow (in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna)
The Madonna in the Garden (Musée du Louvre).
The Sistine Madonna, painted in 1512-1513, is a life-size figure, composed of the Virgin and the saints in a triangular composition, stately and balanced, with the Virgin and Jesus in a fit and powerful physique, expressing the happiness and greatness of maternal love.
Our Lady of Foligno
Our Lady of the Chair
Our Lady of Alba
After 1509 he was invited by Pope Julius II to paint the frescoes in the Vatican Palace, the most outstanding of which are in the Hall of Signatures. The paintings, which cover the four walls and the roof of the hall, represent four aspects of human spirituality: theology, philosophy, poetics and jurisprudence, and in addition to his characteristic pictorial style, he paid particular attention to the full harmony between pictorial expression and architectural decoration, giving a sense of dignity and colour. The most famous of these works is the Academy of Athens, which represents philosophy (a separate presentation will follow)
Other important works by Raphael during this period include The Expulsion of Eliodoro from the Temple and The Mass of Porscena for the Hall of Eliodoro, The Fire of Borgo for the Hall of Fire and The Triumph of Galatea for the Villa of Farnesina.
The Expulsion of Eliodoro from the Temple
The Mass in Porscena
The Fire of Borgo
The Triumph of Galatea
(I can’t find the original image, so I’ll make do with a postage stamp)
Castiglione depicts a scholar whose elegance and profound knowledge Raphael has brought to life.
The Portrait of a Woman in a Veil depicts a woman whose appearance closely resembles the author’s image of the Virgin, but whose elegant dress and athletic physique are a fitting representation of the woman in her life.
In the spring of 1520, when he was already seriously ill, he was still working on The Transfiguration of Christ, and although he was unable to complete it, the parts that came from his hand are still glorious and imposing, showing that towards the end of his life he was still exploring, enriching and perfecting his style.
Personal life
Raphael was so well liked and respectful that it is said that if he spent five minutes in a certain place, he would be asked for a painting, which Raphael rarely refused.
Raphael, like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, had to serve Pope Julius II. But Raphael always got on well with Julius II, and Leo X subsequently liked Raphael so much that he gave him a cardinal’s hat and a niece of Cardinal Bibbiena, Maria, to marry him. Although Raphael was not happy about this, he did not reject it, but delayed the marriage until his accidental death.
Rafael was an unmarried but very affectionate man, and when his close friend Agostino Chigi asked him to paint the first gallery of his private residence, Rafael neglected the job because he was infatuated with a woman. With the help of his friends, Agostino managed to find a way to complete the painting by inviting the woman to his home and settling her in the studio where Raphael was working.
