Raphael

Early Life

Rafaello Sanzio da Urbino (A.K.A. Raphael) was born on April 6, 1483, in Urbino, Italy. Raphael’s father, Giovanni Santi, was a painter for the Duke of Urbino, Federigo da Montefeltro, and taught Raphael (when he was young) the basic painting techniques (and exposed him to the principles of humanistic philosophy at the Duke of Urbino’s court).

However, in 1494, when Raphael was just 11 years old, Giovanni died. Raphael then took over the task of managing his father’s workshop. His success in this role was better than his father’s; Raphael was soon considered one of the finest painters in town. As a teen, Raphael was even commissioned to paint for the Church of San Nicola in the neighboring town of Castello.

Training

In 1500 a master painter named Pietro Vannunci (known as Perugino), invited Raphael to become his apprentice in Perugia, in the Umbria region of central Italy.This apprenticeship lasted for four years, which provided Raphael with the opportunity to gain both knowledge and hands-on experience. During this time, Raphael developed his own unique painting style, as exhibited in his religious works.

Paintings

The Sistine Madonna (commissioned in 1512)

The Sistine Madonna is an oil painting created in (1512), and was the last painting in his "Madonnas" series. From 1504 through 1507, Raphael produced a series of "Madonnas," which extrapolated on Leonardo da Vinci's works.

-The School of Athens (1509-11)

This painting was one of the famous frescoes Raphael created

-Portrait of Pope Julius II (1511-12)

This painting was an accepted commission; created out of oil paint

Architecture

While Raphael continued to accept commissions (such as the self-portraits of popes Julius II and Leo X, as well as his largest painting on canvas, The Transfiguration) he had begun to work on architecture. After the architect, Donato Bramante died in 1514, the pope hired Raphael as his chief architect. While he was chief architect, Raphael created the design for a chapel in Sant' Eligio degli Orefici. He also designed Rome's Santa Maria del Popolo Chapel and an area within Saint Peter's new basilica. Raphael's architectural work was not limited to religious buildings, it also extended to designing palaces! Raphael's architecture honored the classical sensibilities of his predecessor, Donato Bramante, and incorporated his use of ornamental detail. Such details would come to define the architectural style of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.

Death and Legacy

On April 6, 1520, Raphael’s 37th birthday, he died suddenly and unexpectedly of mysterious causes in Rome, Italy. He had been working on his largest painting on canvas, The Transfiguration (commissioned in 1517), at the time of his death. Following his death, Raphael's movement toward Mannerism influenced painting styles in Italy’s advancing Baroque period. Celebrated for the balanced and harmonious compositions of his "Madonnas," portraits, frescoes and architecture, Raphael continues to be widely regarded as the leading artistic figure of Italian High Renaissance classicism.

Techniques he used + Other Facts

While Raphael was still an apprentice, he developed his own unique painting style, as exhibited in the religious works; The Mond Crucifixion (circa 1502),The Three Graces (circa 1503), The Knight’s Dream (1504) and the Oddi altarpiece, Marriage of the Virgin, completed in 1504. When Raphael left his apprenticeship with Perugino and moved to Florence, he was heavily influenced by the works of the Italian painters Fra Bartolommeo, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Masaccio. To Raphael, these innovative artists had achieved a whole new level of depth in their composition. By closely studying the details of their work, Raphael managed to develop an even more intricate and expressive personal style than was evident in his earlier paintings. From 1504 through 1507, Raphael produced a series of "Madonnas," which extrapolated on Leonardo da Vinci's works. Raphael's experimentation with this theme culminated in 1507 with his painting, La Belle jardine. That same year, Raphael created his most ambitious work in Florence, the Entombment, which was evocative of the ideas that Michelangelo had recently expressed in his Battle of Cascina.From 1509 to 1511, Raphael toiled over what was to become one of the Italian High Renaissance’s most highly regarded fresco cycles, those located in the Vatican's Stanza della Segnatura ("Room of the Signatura"). The Stanza della Segnatura series of frescos include The Triumph of Religion and The School of Athens. In the fresco cycle, Raphael expressed the humanistic philosophy that he had learned in the Urbino court as a boy.

Here is the picture of Raphael:

A leading figure of Italian High Renaissance classicism, Raphael is best known for his "Madonnas," including the Sistine Madonna, and for his large figure compositions in the Palace of the Vatican in Rome.

-This pcture is from http://www.biography.com/people/raphael-41051

Watch this video to get Quick Facts about Raphael:

Some of His paintings:

The School of Athens (1509-11)

http://jackiewhiting.net/ArtHist/SchlAthns.htm

The Sistine Madonna (1512)

http://www.abc-people.com/data/rafael-santi/sistine_madonna.htm

Portrait of Pope Julius II (1511-12)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Pope_Julius_II