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Raffaello Santi

This page is about the artist. For other references to Raphael, see Raphael (disambiguation).
self-portrait
self-portrait

Raphael or Raffaello (6th April 14836th April 1520 - see note below), also called Raffaello Sanzio, Raffaello Santi, Raffaello da Urbino or Rafael Sanzio de Urbino, was a painter and architect of the Florentine school in the Italian High Renaissance.

His life was described in Giorgio Vasari's Vite. Born in Urbino, he studied in Perugia under Pietro Perugino; but after moving to Florence he soon adopted the styles of Leonardo and Michelangelo.

Contents

Major works

Raphael is best known for his Madonnas and Holy families and for his large frescoes in the Vatican Palace. In 1509 indeed, he was called to Rome to decorate the Vatican Stanze (rooms), for Pope Julius II. The best known of these works are the School of Athens and the Disputation on the Blessed Sacrament, two large, arch-shaped frescoes, the first depicting the pagan philosophers of Antiquity grouped around Plato and Aristotle and the second depicting Christian theologians grouped under Jesus.

Under Pope Leo X he was chief architect of Saint Peter's Basilica in 1514 and he was named as a sort of supervisor for Roman archaeology research.

He died on his thirty-seventh birthday in Rome (reportedly just weeks before Leo was to invest him as a cardinal), deeply lamented by all who knew his value. His body lay for awhile in state in one of the rooms wherein he had displayed the powers of his mind, and he was honoured with a public funeral; his last produce, the transfiguration, being carried before him in the procession. The unrelenting hand of death (says his biographer) set a period to his labours, and deprived the world of further benefit from his talents, when he had only attained an age at which most other men are but beginning to be useful. "We see him in his cradle (said Fuseli); we hear him stammer; but propriety rocked the cradle, and character formed his lips."[1] http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/1/3/8/11387/11387-h/11387-h.htm

He was interred in the Pantheon, the country's most honored place.

Dates of birth and death

Many sources give the date of Raphael's birth as Good Friday, 6th April 1483. In the year of 1483 the Julian Calendar was in use and Easter Sunday, according to the Julian calendar calculation, fell on 30th March. Therefore Good Friday occurred on 28th March. This is the actual date of Raphael's birth in the Julian calendar. In 1582 the Gregorian Calendar was introduced into Catholic Europe by Pope Gregory XIII. The Proleptic Gregorian Calendar is a backwards extension of this calendar and in 1483 the Proleptic Gregorian equivalent date of 28th March was 6th April. The Julian-Gregorian offset was nine days during the 15th century.

In the 16th century the Julian-Gregorian offset had increased to 10 days. Therefore the date of Raphael's death was 6th April 1520 in the Proleptic Gregorian calendar. In the Julian calendar, which was being used at the time, the date was 27th March. Raphael died on the eve of his 37th birthday (Julian date).

"Woman with a veil (La Donna Velata)", Painted 1516
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"Woman with a veil (La Donna Velata)", Painted 1516

See also

External links and references

  • Raffaello Sanzio Biography http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/bio/r/raphael/biograph.html
  • Webmuseum, Paris: Raphael http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/raphael/
  • Artsworld: Biography: Raffaello Sanzio Raphael http://www.artsworld.com/art-architecture/biographies/p-r/raffaello-sanzio-rapha
    el.html
  • Olga's Gallery: Raphael http://www.abcgallery.com/R/raphael/raphaelbio.html
  • Artcyclopedia: Raphael http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/raphael.html
  • Exhibition: Raphael: Art and Philosophy http://www.unesco.org/phiweb/uk/raphael/raphael.html
  • Parodies and misuses of Raphael's cherubs from the Sistine Madona http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/angels/20.html




Last updated: 02-04-2005 09:33:35