Raphael (actually Raffaello Santi or Sanzio, Raffaello Santi, Sanzio) (March 26 or 28, 1483, Urbino - April 6, 1520, Rome), Italian painter and architect.

Raphael, son of the painter Giovanni Santi, spent his early years in Urbino. In the years 1500-1504, Raphael, according to Vasari, studied with the artist Perugino in Perugia.

From 1504, Raphael worked in Florence, where he got acquainted with the work of Leonardo da Vinci and Fra Bartolommeo, studied anatomy and scientific perspective.
Moving to Florence played a huge role in the creative development of Raphael. Of paramount importance for the artist was familiarity with the method of the great Leonardo da Vinci.
Following Leonardo, Rafael began to work a lot from nature, studying anatomy, the mechanics of movements, complex postures and angles, looking for compact, rhythmically balanced compositional formulas.
The numerous images of the Madonnas he created in Florence brought the young artist all-Italian fame.
Raphael received an invitation from Pope Julius II to Rome, where he was able to get to know the ancient monuments better, took part in archaeological excavations. Having moved to Rome, the 26-year-old master received the position of “artist of the Apostolic See” and was commissioned to paint the main chambers of the Vatican Palace, from 1514 he supervised the construction of St. protection of ancient monuments, archaeological excavations. Fulfilling the order of the pope, Raphael created murals in the halls of the Vatican, glorifying the ideals of freedom and earthly happiness of a person, the limitlessness of his physical and spiritual capabilities.

The painting by Rafael Santi "Madonna Conestabile" was created by the artist at the age of twenty.

In this picture, the young artist Raphael created his first remarkable incarnation of the image of the Madonna, which occupied an exceptionally important place in his art. The image of a young beautiful mother, generally so popular in Renaissance art, is especially close to Raphael, in whose talent there was a lot of softness and lyricism.

In contrast to the masters of the 15th century, in the painting of the young artist Raphael Santi, new qualities have emerged, when the harmonic compositional construction does not fetter the images, but, on the contrary, is perceived as a necessary condition for the feeling of naturalness and freedom that they generate.

holy family 1507-1508 years. Alte Pinakothek, Munich.

Painting by artist Raphael Santi "The Holy Family" Kanidzhani.

The customer of the work is Domenico Canigianini from Florence. In the painting “Holy Family”, the great Renaissance painter Raphael Santi depicted in the classical vein of biblical history - the holy family - the Virgin Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus Christ, along with St. Elizabeth and the baby John the Baptist.

However, only in Rome did Raphael overcome the dryness and some stiffness of his early portraits. It was in Rome that the brilliant talent of Raphael the portrait painter reached maturity.

In the “Madonnas” of Raphael of the Roman period, the idyllic mood of his early works is replaced by the recreation of deeper human, maternal feelings, as Mary, full of dignity and spiritual purity, is the protector of humanity in Raphael’s most famous work - “Sistine Madonna”.

Rafael Santi's painting "The Sistine Madonna" was originally created by the great painter as an altarpiece for the church of San Sisto (St. Sixtus) in Piacenza.

In the painting, the artist depicts the Virgin Mary with the baby Christ, Pope Sixtus II and Saint Barbara. The painting "Sistine Madonna" is one of the most famous works of world art.

How was the image of the Madonna created? Was there a real prototype for it? In this regard, a number of ancient legends are associated with the Dresden painting. Researchers find in the facial features of the Madonna a resemblance to the model of one of Raphael's female portraits - the so-called "Lady in the Veil". But in resolving this issue, first of all, one should take into account the well-known statement of Raphael himself from a letter to his friend Baldassara Castiglione that in creating the image of perfect female beauty, he is guided by a certain idea that arises on the basis of many impressions from the beauties seen by the artist in life. In other words, the basis of the creative method of the painter Raphael Santi is the selection and synthesis of observations of reality.

In the last years of his life, Rafael was so overloaded with orders that he entrusted the execution of many of them to his students and assistants (Giulio Romano, Giovanni da Udine, Perino del Vaga, Francesco Penny and others), usually limited to general supervision of the work.

Raphael had a great influence on the subsequent development of Italian and European painting, becoming, along with the masters of antiquity, the highest example of artistic excellence. The art of Raphael, which had a tremendous impact on European painting of the 16th-19th and, partly, of the 20th centuries, for centuries retained for artists and viewers the value of an indisputable artistic authority and model.

In the last years of his work, his students created huge cardboards on biblical themes with episodes from the life of the apostles based on the artist's drawings. Based on these cardboards, the Brussels masters were supposed to perform monumental tapestries, which were intended to decorate the Sistine Chapel on holidays.

Paintings by Raphael Santi

The painting by Rafael Santi "Angel" was created by the artist at the age of 17-18 at the very beginning of the 16th century.

This magnificent early work by the young artist is part or fragment of a Baronci altarpiece that was damaged by the 1789 earthquake. The altarpiece "The Coronation of Blessed Nicholas of Tolentino, the Conqueror of Satan" was commissioned by Andrea Baronci for his home chapel of the Church of San Agostinho in Citta de Castello. In addition to the fragment of the painting "Angel", three more parts of the altar have been preserved: "The Most High-Creator" and "The Blessed Virgin Mary" in the Capodimonte Museum (Naples) and another fragment of the "Angel" in the Louvre (Paris).

The painting "Madonna of the Granduca" was painted by the artist Rafael Santi after moving to Florence.

Numerous images of Madonnas created by the young artist in Florence (“Granduk Madonna”, “Madonna with a Goldfinch”, “Madonna in Greenery”, “Madonna with the Christ Child and John the Baptist” or “Beautiful Gardener” and others) brought all-Italian fame to Rafael Santi.

The painting "Dream of a Knight" was painted by the artist Rafael Santi in the early years of his work.

The painting is from the heritage of Borghese, probably paired with another work by the artist "Three Graces". These paintings - "The Dream of a Knight" and "Three Graces" - are almost miniature compositions in size.

The theme of the "Dream of a Knight" is a kind of refraction of the ancient myth of Hercules at the crossroads between the allegorical incarnations of Valor and Delight. Near the young knight, depicted sleeping in a beautiful landscape, are two young women. One of them, in a strict attire, offers him a sword and a book, the other - a branch with flowers.

In the painting "Three Graces", the very compositional motif of three naked female figures is borrowed, apparently, from an antique cameo. And although there is still a lot of uncertainty in these works of the artist (“Three Graces” and “The Dream of a Knight”), they attract with their naive charm and poetic purity. Already here, some of the features inherent in Raphael's talent were revealed - the poetic nature of the images, the sense of rhythm and the soft melodiousness of the lines.

The altar painting by Rafael Santi "Madonna of Ansidei" was painted by the artist in Florence; the young painter was not yet 25 years old.

Unicorn, a mythical animal with the body of a bull, horse or goat and one long, straight horn on its forehead.

The unicorn is a symbol of purity and virginity. According to legend, only an innocent girl can tame a ferocious unicorn. The painting “Lady with a Unicorn” was painted by Rafael Santi based on the mythological plot popular during the Renaissance and Mannerism, which was used by many artists in their paintings.

The painting "Lady with a Unicorn" was badly damaged in the past, and has now been partially restored.

Painting by Raphael Santi "Madonna in the Green" or "Mary with the Child and John the Baptist".

In Florence, Raphael created the Madonna cycle, indicating the onset of a new stage in his work. Belonging to the most famous of them, “Madonna in the Green” (Vienna, Museum), “Madonna with a Goldfinch” (Uffizi) and “Madonna the Gardener” (Louvre) are some kind of variants of a common motif - images of a beautiful young mother with the Christ child and little John the Baptist in the background of the landscape. These are also variants of the same theme - the theme of motherly love, light and serene.

Altar painting by Raphael Santi "Madonna di Foligno".

In the 1510s, Raphael worked a lot in the field of altar composition. A number of his works of this kind, among which the Madonna di Foligno should be mentioned, lead us to the greatest creation of his easel painting - the Sistine Madonna. This picture was created in 1515-1519 for the church of St. Sixtus in Piacenza and is now in the Dresden Art Gallery.

The painting “Madonna di Foligno” in its compositional construction is similar to the famous “Sistine Madonna”, with the only difference being that in the painting “Madonna di Foligno” there are more actors and the image of the Madonna is distinguished by a kind of internal isolation - her gaze is occupied with her child - the baby Christ .

Rafael Santi's painting "Madonna del Impannata" was created by the great painter almost at the same time as the famous "Sistine Madonna".

In the painting, the artist depicts the Virgin Mary with the children Christ and John the Baptist, Saint Elizabeth and Saint Catherine. The painting "Madonna del Impannata" testifies to the further improvement of the artist's style, the complication of images in comparison with the soft lyrical images of his Florentine Madonnas.

The mid-1510s were the time of Raphael's finest portrait work.

Castiglione, Count Baldassare (Castiglione; 1478-1526) - Italian diplomat and writer. Born near Mantua, served at various Italian courts, was the ambassador of the Duke of Urbino in the 1500s to Henry VII of England, from 1507 in France to King Louis XII. In 1525, already at a fairly respectable age, he was sent as papal nuncio to Spain.

In this portrait, Raphael showed himself to be an outstanding colorist, able to feel color in its complex shades and tonal transitions. The portrait of the "Lady in the Veil" differs from the portrait of Baldassare Castiglione with remarkable coloristic merits.

Researchers of the artist Raphael Santi and historians of Renaissance painting find in the features of the model of this female portrait of Raphael a resemblance to the face of the Virgin Mary in his famous painting “The Sistine Madonna”.

Joanna of Aragon 1518. Louvre Museum, Paris.

The customer of the painting is Cardinal Bibbiena, writer and secretary under Pope Leo X; the painting was intended as a gift to the French king Francis I. The portrait was only begun by the artist, and it is not known for certain which of his students (Giulio Romano, Francesco Penny or Perino del Vaga) completed.

Joanna of Aragon (? -1577) - the daughter of the Neapolitan king Federigo (later deposed), the wife of Ascanio, Prince Taliakosso, famous for her beauty.

The extraordinary beauty of Joanna of Aragon was sung by contemporary poets in a number of poetic dedications, the collection of which made up a whole volume published in Venice.

In the painting, the artist depicts a classic version of the biblical chapter from the Revelation of John the Evangelist or the Apocalypse.
“And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought against them, but they did not stand, and there was no longer a place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast out to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him...

Frescoes by Raphael

The fresco of the artist Raphael Santi "Adam and Eve" has another name - "The Fall".

The size of the fresco is 120 x 105 cm. Raphael painted the fresco "Adam and Eve" on the ceiling of the pontiff's chambers.

The fresco of the artist Raphael Santi "The School of Athens" has another name - "Philosophical Conversations". The size of the fresco, the length of the base is 770 cm. After moving to Rome in 1508, Raphael was entrusted with painting the pope's apartments - the so-called stanzas (that is, rooms), which include three rooms on the second floor of the Vatican Palace and the hall adjacent to them. The general ideological program of the fresco cycles in the stanzas, according to the plan of the customers, was to serve to glorify the authority of the Catholic Church and its head, the Roman high priest.

Along with allegorical and biblical images, episodes from the history of the papacy are depicted in separate frescoes; portrait images of Julius II and his successor Leo X are included in some compositions.

The customer for the painting “The Triumph of Galatea” is Agostino Chigi, a banker from Siena; the fresco was painted by the artist in the banquet hall of the villa.

The fresco by Raphael Santi "The Triumph of Galatea" depicts the beautiful Galatea moving swiftly through the waves on a shell pulled by dolphins, surrounded by newts and naiads.

In one of the first frescoes made by Raphael - "Disputation", which depicts a conversation about the sacrament of the sacrament, cult motifs were most affected. The very symbol of communion - the host (wafer) is installed on the altar in the center of the composition. The action takes place in two planes - on earth and in heaven. Below, on a stepped elevation, the church fathers, popes, prelates, clergymen, elders and youths settled down on both sides of the altar.

Among other participants here you can recognize Dante, Savonarola, the pious monk-painter Fra Beato Angelico. Above the whole mass of figures in the lower part of the fresco, like a heavenly vision, the personification of the trinity appears: God the Father, below him, in a halo of golden rays, is Christ with the Mother of God and John the Baptist, even lower, as if marking the geometric center of the fresco, is a dove in sphere, a symbol of the holy spirit, and on the sides on the soaring clouds sit the apostles. And all this huge number of figures, with such a complex compositional design, is distributed with such art that the fresco leaves an impression of amazing clarity and beauty.

Prophet Isaiah 1511-1512 years. San Agostinho, Rome.

The fresco by Raphael depicts the great biblical prophet of the Old Testament at the moment of revelation about the coming of the Messiah. Isaiah (9th century BC), Hebrew prophet, zealous champion of the religion of Yahweh and denouncer of idolatry. The biblical book of the prophet Isaiah bears his name.

One of the four great Old Testament prophets. For Christians, the prophecy of Isaiah about the Messiah (Emmanuel; ch. 7, 9 - “... behold, the Virgin will take in the womb, and give birth to a Son, and they will call his name: Immanuel”) is of particular importance. The memory of the prophet is revered in the Orthodox Church on May 9 (May 22), in the Catholic Church - on July 6.

Frescoes and last paintings by Raphael

A very strong impression is made by the fresco “The Exposition of the Apostle Peter from the Dungeon”, which depicts the miraculous release of the Apostle Peter from the prison by an angel (a hint at the release of Pope Leo X from French captivity when he was a papal legate).

On the plafonds of the papal apartments - the station della Senyatura, Raphael painted the frescoes "The Fall", "The Victory of Apollo over Marsyas", "Astronomy" and a fresco on the famous Old Testament story "The Judgment of Solomon".
It is difficult to find any other artistic ensemble in the history of art that would give the impression of such figurative saturation in terms of ideological and pictorial-decorative as Raphael's Vatican stanzas. Walls covered with multi-figure frescoes, vaulted ceilings with the richest gilding decoration, with fresco and mosaic inserts, a beautifully patterned floor - all this could give the impression of congestion, if it were not for the high orderliness inherent in the overall design of Rafael Santi, which brings this complex artistic complex necessary clarity and visibility.

Until the last years of his life, Raphael paid great attention to monumental painting. One of the largest works of the artist was the painting of the Villa Farnesina, which belonged to the richest Roman banker Chigi.

In the early 10s of the 16th century, Raphael executed in the main hall of this villa the fresco "The Triumph of Galatea", which belongs to his best works.

The myths about Princess Psyche tell about the desire of the human soul to merge with love. For her indescribable beauty, people revered Psyche more than Aphrodite. According to one version, the jealous goddess sent her son, the deity of love, Cupid, to arouse in the girl a passion for the ugliest of people, however, when he saw the beauty, the young man lost his head and forgot about his mother's order. Having become the husband of Psyche, he did not allow her to look at him. She, burning with curiosity, lit a lamp at night and looked at her husband, not noticing a hot drop of oil that fell on his skin, and Cupid disappeared. In the end, by the will of Zeus, the lovers united. Apuleius in Metamorphoses retells the myth of the romantic story of Cupid and Psyche; wanderings of the human soul yearning to meet its love.

The painting depicts Fornarina, beloved of Rafael Santi, whose real name is Margherita Luti. The real name of Fornarina was established by the researcher Antonio Valeri, who discovered it in a manuscript from the Florentine library and in the list of nuns of a monastery, where the novice was designated as the widow of the artist Raphael.

Fornarina is the legendary lover and model of Raphael, whose real name is Margherita Luti. According to many art critics of the Renaissance and historians of the artist's work, Fornarina is depicted in two famous paintings by Rafael Santi - "Fornarina" and "Lady in a Veil". It is also believed that Fornarina, in all likelihood, served as a model for the creation of the image of the Virgin Mary in the painting "The Sistine Madonna", as well as some other female images of Raphael.

Transfiguration of Christ 1519-1520 years. Pinacoteca Vatican, Rome.

Initially, the picture was created as an altar image of the Cathedral in Narbonne, commissioned by Cardinal Giulio Medici, Bishop of Narbonne. To the greatest extent, the contradictions of the last years of Raphael's work were reflected in the huge altar composition "The Transfiguration of Christ" - it was completed after the death of Raphael by Giulio Romano.

This picture is divided into two parts. The upper part shows the actual transformation - this more harmonious part of the picture was made by Raphael himself. Below are the apostles trying to heal a demon-possessed boy.

It was the altar painting by Raphael Santi "The Transfiguration of Christ" that became for centuries an indisputable model for painters of the academic direction.
Raphael died in 1520. His premature death was unexpected and made a deep impression on his contemporaries.

Rafael Santi deservedly occupies a place among the greatest masters of the High Renaissance.

Raphael (actually Raffaello Santi or Sanzio, Raffaello Santi, Sanzio) (March 26 or 28, 1483, Urbino - April 6, 1520, Rome), Italian painter and architect.

Raphael, son of the painter Giovanni Santi, spent his early years in Urbino. In the years 1500-1504, Raphael, according to Vasari, studied with the artist Perugino in Perugia.

From 1504, Raphael worked in Florence, where he got acquainted with the work of Leonardo da Vinci and Fra Bartolommeo, studied anatomy and scientific perspective.
Moving to Florence played a huge role in the creative development of Raphael. Of paramount importance for the artist was familiarity with the method of the great Leonardo da Vinci.

Following Leonardo, Rafael began to work a lot from nature, studying anatomy, the mechanics of movements, complex postures and angles, looking for compact, rhythmically balanced compositional formulas.
The numerous images of the Madonnas he created in Florence brought the young artist all-Italian fame.
Raphael received an invitation from Pope Julius II to Rome, where he was able to get to know the ancient monuments better, took part in archaeological excavations. Having moved to Rome, the 26-year-old master received the position of “artist of the Apostolic See” and was commissioned to paint the main chambers of the Vatican Palace, from 1514 he supervised the construction of St. protection of ancient monuments, archaeological excavations. Fulfilling the order of the pope, Raphael created murals in the halls of the Vatican, glorifying the ideals of freedom and earthly happiness of a person, the limitlessness of his physical and spiritual capabilities.

The painting by Rafael Santi "Madonna Conestabile" was created by the artist at the age of twenty.

In this picture, the young artist Raphael created his first remarkable incarnation of the image of the Madonna, which occupied an exceptionally important place in his art. The image of a young beautiful mother, generally so popular in Renaissance art, is especially close to Raphael, in whose talent there was a lot of softness and lyricism.

In contrast to the masters of the 15th century, in the painting of the young artist Raphael Santi, new qualities have emerged, when the harmonic compositional construction does not fetter the images, but, on the contrary, is perceived as a necessary condition for the feeling of naturalness and freedom that they generate.

holy family 1507-1508 years. Alte Pinakothek, Munich.

Painting by artist Raphael Santi "The Holy Family" Kanidzhani.

The customer of the work is Domenico Canigianini from Florence. In the painting “Holy Family”, the great Renaissance painter Raphael Santi depicted in the classical vein of biblical history - the holy family - the Virgin Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus Christ, along with St. Elizabeth and the baby John the Baptist.

However, only in Rome did Raphael overcome the dryness and some stiffness of his early portraits. It was in Rome that the brilliant talent of Raphael the portrait painter reached maturity.

In the “Madonnas” of Raphael of the Roman period, the idyllic mood of his early works is replaced by the recreation of deeper human, maternal feelings, as Mary, full of dignity and spiritual purity, is the protector of humanity in Raphael’s most famous work - “Sistine Madonna”.

Rafael Santi's painting "The Sistine Madonna" was originally created by the great painter as an altarpiece for the church of San Sisto (St. Sixtus) in Piacenza.

In the painting, the artist depicts the Virgin Mary with the baby Christ, Pope Sixtus II and Saint Barbara. The painting "Sistine Madonna" is one of the most famous works of world art.

How was the image of the Madonna created? Was there a real prototype for it? In this regard, a number of ancient legends are associated with the Dresden painting. Researchers find in the facial features of the Madonna a resemblance to the model of one of Raphael's female portraits - the so-called "Lady in the Veil". But in resolving this issue, first of all, one should take into account the well-known statement of Raphael himself from a letter to his friend Baldassara Castiglione that in creating the image of perfect female beauty, he is guided by a certain idea that arises on the basis of many impressions from the beauties seen by the artist in life. In other words, the basis of the creative method of the painter Raphael Santi is the selection and synthesis of observations of reality.

In the last years of his life, Rafael was so overloaded with orders that he entrusted the execution of many of them to his students and assistants (Giulio Romano, Giovanni da Udine, Perino del Vaga, Francesco Penny and others), usually limited to general supervision of the work.

Raphael had a great influence on the subsequent development of Italian and European painting, becoming, along with the masters of antiquity, the highest example of artistic excellence. The art of Raphael, which had a tremendous impact on European painting of the 16th-19th and, partly, of the 20th centuries, for centuries retained for artists and viewers the value of an indisputable artistic authority and model.

In the last years of his work, his students created huge cardboards on biblical themes with episodes from the life of the apostles based on the artist's drawings. Based on these cardboards, the Brussels masters were supposed to perform monumental tapestries, which were intended to decorate the Sistine Chapel on holidays.

Paintings by Raphael Santi

The painting by Rafael Santi "Angel" was created by the artist at the age of 17-18 at the very beginning of the 16th century.

This magnificent early work by the young artist is part or fragment of a Baronci altarpiece that was damaged by the 1789 earthquake. The altarpiece "The Coronation of Blessed Nicholas of Tolentino, the Conqueror of Satan" was commissioned by Andrea Baronci for his home chapel of the Church of San Agostinho in Citta de Castello. In addition to the fragment of the painting "Angel", three more parts of the altar have been preserved: "The Most High-Creator" and "The Blessed Virgin Mary" in the Capodimonte Museum (Naples) and another fragment of the "Angel" in the Louvre (Paris).

The painting "Madonna of the Granduca" was painted by the artist Rafael Santi after moving to Florence.

Numerous images of Madonnas created by the young artist in Florence (“Granduk Madonna”, “Madonna with a Goldfinch”, “Madonna in Greenery”, “Madonna with the Christ Child and John the Baptist” or “Beautiful Gardener” and others) brought all-Italian fame to Rafael Santi.

The painting "Dream of a Knight" was painted by the artist Rafael Santi in the early years of his work.

The painting is from the heritage of Borghese, probably paired with another work by the artist "Three Graces". These paintings - "The Dream of a Knight" and "Three Graces" - are almost miniature compositions in size.

The theme of the "Dream of a Knight" is a kind of refraction of the ancient myth of Hercules at the crossroads between the allegorical incarnations of Valor and Delight. Near the young knight, depicted sleeping in a beautiful landscape, are two young women. One of them, in a strict attire, offers him a sword and a book, the other - a branch with flowers.

In the painting "Three Graces", the very compositional motif of three naked female figures is borrowed, apparently, from an antique cameo. And although there is still a lot of uncertainty in these works of the artist (“Three Graces” and “The Dream of a Knight”), they attract with their naive charm and poetic purity. Already here, some of the features inherent in Raphael's talent were revealed - the poetic nature of the images, the sense of rhythm and the soft melodiousness of the lines.

The battle of St. George with the dragon 1504-1505 years. Louvre Museum, Paris.

Rafael Santi's painting "The Battle of St. George with the Dragon" was painted by the artist in Florence after he left Perugia.

"The Battle of St. George with the Dragon" was created on the basis of a biblical story popular in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

The altar painting by Rafael Santi "Madonna of Ansidei" was painted by the artist in Florence; the young painter was not yet 25 years old.

Unicorn, a mythical animal with the body of a bull, horse or goat and one long, straight horn on its forehead.

The unicorn is a symbol of purity and virginity. According to legend, only an innocent girl can tame a ferocious unicorn. The painting “Lady with a Unicorn” was painted by Rafael Santi based on the mythological plot popular during the Renaissance and Mannerism, which was used by many artists in their paintings.

The painting "Lady with a Unicorn" was badly damaged in the past, and has now been partially restored.

Painting by Raphael Santi "Madonna in the Green" or "Mary with the Child and John the Baptist".

In Florence, Raphael created the Madonna cycle, indicating the onset of a new stage in his work. Belonging to the most famous of them, “Madonna in the Green” (Vienna, Museum), “Madonna with a Goldfinch” (Uffizi) and “Madonna the Gardener” (Louvre) are some kind of variants of a common motif - images of a beautiful young mother with the Christ child and little John the Baptist in the background of the landscape. These are also variants of the same theme - the theme of motherly love, light and serene.

Altar painting by Raphael Santi "Madonna di Foligno".

In the 1510s, Raphael worked a lot in the field of altar composition. A number of his works of this kind, among which the Madonna di Foligno should be mentioned, lead us to the greatest creation of his easel painting - the Sistine Madonna. This picture was created in 1515-1519 for the church of St. Sixtus in Piacenza and is now in the Dresden Art Gallery.

The painting “Madonna di Foligno” in its compositional construction is similar to the famous “Sistine Madonna”, with the only difference being that in the painting “Madonna di Foligno” there are more actors and the image of the Madonna is distinguished by a kind of internal isolation - her gaze is occupied with her child - the baby Christ .

Rafael Santi's painting "Madonna del Impannata" was created by the great painter almost at the same time as the famous "Sistine Madonna".

In the painting, the artist depicts the Virgin Mary with the children Christ and John the Baptist, Saint Elizabeth and Saint Catherine. The painting "Madonna del Impannata" testifies to the further improvement of the artist's style, the complication of images in comparison with the soft lyrical images of his Florentine Madonnas.

The mid-1510s were the time of Raphael's finest portrait work.

Castiglione, Count Baldassare (Castiglione; 1478-1526) - Italian diplomat and writer. Born near Mantua, served at various Italian courts, was the ambassador of the Duke of Urbino in the 1500s to Henry VII of England, from 1507 in France to King Louis XII. In 1525, already at a fairly respectable age, he was sent as papal nuncio to Spain.

In this portrait, Raphael showed himself to be an outstanding colorist, able to feel color in its complex shades and tonal transitions. The portrait of the "Lady in the Veil" differs from the portrait of Baldassare Castiglione with remarkable coloristic merits.

Researchers of the artist Raphael Santi and historians of Renaissance painting find in the features of the model of this female portrait of Raphael a resemblance to the face of the Virgin Mary in his famous painting “The Sistine Madonna”.

Joanna of Aragon 1518. Louvre Museum, Paris.

The customer of the painting is Cardinal Bibbiena, writer and secretary under Pope Leo X; the painting was intended as a gift to the French king Francis I. The portrait was only begun by the artist, and it is not known for certain which of his students (Giulio Romano, Francesco Penny or Perino del Vaga) completed.

Joanna of Aragon (? -1577) - the daughter of the Neapolitan king Federigo (later deposed), the wife of Ascanio, Prince Taliakosso, famous for her beauty.

The extraordinary beauty of Joanna of Aragon was sung by contemporary poets in a number of poetic dedications, the collection of which made up a whole volume published in Venice.

In the painting, the artist depicts a classic version of the biblical chapter from the Revelation of John the Evangelist or the Apocalypse.
“And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought against them, but they did not stand, and there was no longer a place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast out to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him...

Frescoes by Raphael

The fresco of the artist Raphael Santi "Adam and Eve" has another name - "The Fall".

The size of the fresco is 120 x 105 cm. Raphael painted the fresco "Adam and Eve" on the ceiling of the pontiff's chambers.

The fresco of the artist Raphael Santi "The School of Athens" has another name - "Philosophical Conversations". The size of the fresco, the length of the base is 770 cm. After moving to Rome in 1508, Raphael was entrusted with painting the pope's apartments - the so-called stanzas (that is, rooms), which include three rooms on the second floor of the Vatican Palace and the hall adjacent to them. The general ideological program of the fresco cycles in the stanzas, according to the plan of the customers, was to serve to glorify the authority of the Catholic Church and its head, the Roman high priest.

Along with allegorical and biblical images, episodes from the history of the papacy are depicted in separate frescoes; portrait images of Julius II and his successor Leo X are included in some compositions.

The customer for the painting “The Triumph of Galatea” is Agostino Chigi, a banker from Siena; the fresco was painted by the artist in the banquet hall of the villa.

The fresco by Raphael Santi "The Triumph of Galatea" depicts the beautiful Galatea moving swiftly through the waves on a shell pulled by dolphins, surrounded by newts and naiads.

In one of the first frescoes made by Raphael - "Disputation", which depicts a conversation about the sacrament of the sacrament, cult motifs were most affected. The very symbol of communion - the host (wafer) is installed on the altar in the center of the composition. The action takes place in two planes - on earth and in heaven. Below, on a stepped elevation, the church fathers, popes, prelates, clergymen, elders and youths settled down on both sides of the altar.

Among other participants here you can recognize Dante, Savonarola, the pious monk-painter Fra Beato Angelico. Above the whole mass of figures in the lower part of the fresco, like a heavenly vision, the personification of the trinity appears: God the Father, below him, in a halo of golden rays, is Christ with the Mother of God and John the Baptist, even lower, as if marking the geometric center of the fresco, is a dove in sphere, a symbol of the holy spirit, and on the sides on the soaring clouds sit the apostles. And all this huge number of figures, with such a complex compositional design, is distributed with such art that the fresco leaves an impression of amazing clarity and beauty.

Prophet Isaiah 1511-1512 years. San Agostinho, Rome.

The fresco by Raphael depicts the great biblical prophet of the Old Testament at the moment of revelation about the coming of the Messiah. Isaiah (9th century BC), Hebrew prophet, zealous champion of the religion of Yahweh and denouncer of idolatry. The biblical book of the prophet Isaiah bears his name.

One of the four great Old Testament prophets. For Christians, the prophecy of Isaiah about the Messiah (Emmanuel; ch. 7, 9 - “... behold, the Virgin will take in the womb, and give birth to a Son, and they will call his name: Immanuel”) is of particular importance. The memory of the prophet is revered in the Orthodox Church on May 9 (May 22), in the Catholic Church - on July 6.

Frescoes and last paintings by Raphael

A very strong impression is made by the fresco “The Exposition of the Apostle Peter from the Dungeon”, which depicts the miraculous release of the Apostle Peter from the prison by an angel (a hint at the release of Pope Leo X from French captivity when he was a papal legate).

On the plafonds of the papal apartments - the station della Senyatura, Raphael painted the frescoes "The Fall", "The Victory of Apollo over Marsyas", "Astronomy" and a fresco on the famous Old Testament story "The Judgment of Solomon".
It is difficult to find any other artistic ensemble in the history of art that would give the impression of such figurative saturation in terms of ideological and pictorial-decorative as Raphael's Vatican stanzas. Walls covered with multi-figure frescoes, vaulted ceilings with the richest gilding decoration, with fresco and mosaic inserts, a beautifully patterned floor - all this could give the impression of congestion, if it were not for the high orderliness inherent in the overall design of Rafael Santi, which brings this complex artistic complex necessary clarity and visibility.

Until the last years of his life, Raphael paid great attention to monumental painting. One of the largest works of the artist was the painting of the Villa Farnesina, which belonged to the richest Roman banker Chigi.

In the early 10s of the 16th century, Raphael executed in the main hall of this villa the fresco "The Triumph of Galatea", which belongs to his best works.

The myths about Princess Psyche tell about the desire of the human soul to merge with love. For her indescribable beauty, people revered Psyche more than Aphrodite. According to one version, the jealous goddess sent her son, the deity of love, Cupid, to arouse in the girl a passion for the ugliest of people, however, when he saw the beauty, the young man lost his head and forgot about his mother's order. Having become the husband of Psyche, he did not allow her to look at him. She, burning with curiosity, lit a lamp at night and looked at her husband, not noticing a hot drop of oil that fell on his skin, and Cupid disappeared. In the end, by the will of Zeus, the lovers united. Apuleius in Metamorphoses retells the myth of the romantic story of Cupid and Psyche; wanderings of the human soul yearning to meet its love.

The painting depicts Fornarina, beloved of Rafael Santi, whose real name is Margherita Luti. The real name of Fornarina was established by the researcher Antonio Valeri, who discovered it in a manuscript from the Florentine library and in the list of nuns of a monastery, where the novice was designated as the widow of the artist Raphael.

Fornarina is the legendary lover and model of Raphael, whose real name is Margherita Luti. According to many art critics of the Renaissance and historians of the artist's work, Fornarina is depicted in two famous paintings by Rafael Santi - "Fornarina" and "Lady in a Veil". It is also believed that Fornarina, in all likelihood, served as a model for the creation of the image of the Virgin Mary in the painting "The Sistine Madonna", as well as some other female images of Raphael.

Transfiguration of Christ 1519-1520 years. Pinacoteca Vatican, Rome.

Initially, the picture was created as an altar image of the Cathedral in Narbonne, commissioned by Cardinal Giulio Medici, Bishop of Narbonne. To the greatest extent, the contradictions of the last years of Raphael's work were reflected in the huge altar composition "The Transfiguration of Christ" - it was completed after the death of Raphael by Giulio Romano.

This picture is divided into two parts. The upper part shows the actual transformation - this more harmonious part of the picture was made by Raphael himself. Below are the apostles trying to heal a demon-possessed boy.

It was the altar painting by Raphael Santi "The Transfiguration of Christ" that became for centuries an indisputable model for painters of the academic direction.
Raphael died in 1520. His premature death was unexpected and made a deep impression on his contemporaries.

Rafael Santi deservedly occupies a place among the greatest masters of the High Renaissance.

Raphael Santi is a man with an incredible destiny, the most secret and beautiful painter of the Renaissance. The rulers of Italy envied the talent and mind of the brilliant painter, the representatives of the weaker sex adored him for his cheerful disposition and angelic attractiveness, and for his kindness and generosity, friends called the artist the messenger of paradise. However, the Contemporaries did not suspect that the generous Raphael was afraid until the end of his days that his mind would fall into the abyss of madness.

History always has a beginning and a continuation. So on April 6, 1483, in the small town of the Kingdom of Italy of Urbino, in the house of the court painter of the Dukes of Urbino and the poet Giovanni Santi, the great Rafael Santi.

Giovanni Santi headed the most famous art workshop in Urbino. The tragedy in which he lost his beloved wife and mother happened at night in his house. While the artist was in Rome, where he painted a portrait of Pope John II, his brother Niccolo, in a fit of insanity, killed his elderly mother and seriously wounded the pregnant Maggia, the artist's wife. The guards who arrived at the scene of the crime arrested the criminal, but he managed to escape. Seized with insane fear, Niccolò threw himself from the bridge into the icy river. The soldiers stood on the shore and tried to fish out the body, when the Maggia Santi had already given birth to a baby and died from her wounds. Giovanni learned about the trouble from traveling merchants. He dropped everything and hurried home. But, friends and neighbors have already christened the boy Raphael buried his wife and mother.

The childhood of the great artist was very happy and carefree. Giovanni Santi, having experienced a terrible tragedy, put all his strength into Raphael, protecting him from the worries and troubles of the real world, preventing possible mistakes and correcting those already committed. Rafael from childhood studied only with the best teachers, his father had high hopes for him, instilling a taste for painting. The first toys Raphael there were paints and brushes from my father's workshop. And at the age of seven Rafael Santi he expressed his gifted magical fantasies in the workshop of the court painter - in the workshop of his father. Soon Giovanni remarried Bernardine Parte, the daughter of a goldsmith. From the second marriage, a daughter, Elisabetta, was born.

Every day the boy brought more and more joy. Giovanni watched how his son thinks and acts in his imaginary world, and how these weak and still clumsy hands express everything on the canvas. He understood that talent and supernatural abilities Raphael much more worthy of his own, so he gave the boy to study with his friend, the artist Timoteo Viti.

During ten years of study Raphael For the first time, he departed from the canons of the classical Italian portrait of the Renaissance and mastered that unique play of colors and colors, which today is a mystery to artists and art historians around the world.

In 1494, the father of a little genius dies of a heart attack, and by decision of the city magistrate, the boy remained in the care of the family of Bartholomew, a cloth merchant. He was the younger brother of the artist Giovanni and, unlike the crazy Niccolo, he was sociable, had a caring, cheerful and kind disposition, did not remain indifferent and was always ready to help those who needed it. This good-natured merchant adored his nephew - an orphan and did not spare money for his training in painting.

Already at the age of seventeen, he easily created bright talented works that still delight his contemporaries. In November 1500, the seventeen-year-old youth left his small provincial town of Urbino and moved to the bustling port city of Perugio. There he entered the studio of the famous painter Pietro Vanucci, known as Perugino. After looking at the first examination papers of his new student, the gray-haired maestro exclaimed: “Today is my joyful day, because I discovered a genius for the world!”

During the Renaissance, Perugino's workshop was a creative laboratory in which brilliant personalities were brought up. The deep lyricism of Perugino, his tenderness, calmness and softness found an echo in the soul Raphael. Rafael is receptive. He quickly learns the painting style of his teacher, studies the work on frescoes under his guidance, gets acquainted with the technique and figurative system of monumental painting.

For some time, Rafael was still under the powerful influence of Perugino. Only timidly, like an instantaneous splash, an unexpected compositional solution suddenly arises, unusual for Perugino. Suddenly, the colors on the canvases begin to sound peculiar. And, despite the fact that his masterpieces of this period are imitative, one cannot step aside and not realize what their immortal master was doing. First of all, it is "", "", "". All this completes the created monumental canvas "" in the city of Civita - Castellane.

It's like his last bow to the teacher. Raphael goes into a big life.

In 1504, he arrived in Florence, where the center of Italian art was concentrated, where the High Renaissance was born and rose.

The first thing the young man saw Raphael, having set foot on the land of Florence, was a majestic statue of the biblical hero David in Piazza della Signoria. This sculpture by Michelangelo could not but stun Raphael, could not but leave an imprint in his impressionable imagination.

At this time, the great Leonardo also worked in Florence. Just then, all of Florence, with bated breath, watched the duel of the titans - Leonardo and Michelangelo. They worked on battle compositions for the Council Hall of the Signoria Palace. The painting by Leonardo was supposed to depict the battle of the Florentines with the Milanese at Anghiari in 1440. And Michelangelo painted the battle of the Florentines with the Pisans in 1364.

As early as 1505, the Florentines had the opportunity to evaluate both cardboards exhibited together.

Poetic, majestic Leonardo and rebellious, with a dazzling passion for painting Michelangelo! A real titanic battle of the elements. young Raphael you need to get out of the fire of this battle not scorched, remaining yourself.

In Florence, Raphael masters all the amount of knowledge that an artist needs to rise to the level of these titans.

He studies anatomy, perspective, mathematics, geometry. More and more clearly comes through his search for beauty in Man, his worship of Man, he develops the style of a muralist, his skill becomes virtuoso.

In four years, he turned from a timid provincial painter into a real master, confidently owning all the secrets of the school he needed to work.

In 1508, twenty-five years old Santi comes at the invitation of Pope Julius II to Rome. He is entrusted with painting in the Vatican. First of all, it was necessary to make frescoes in the Hall of the Signature, which Julius II assigned to the library and study. The paintings were supposed to reflect various aspects of human spiritual activity - in science, philosophy, theology, art.

Here he is before us not only a painter, but an artist-philosopher who dared to rise to enormous generalizations.

Signature Hall - Stanza della Senyatura - reunited the ideas of the era about the power of the human mind, the power of poetry, the rule of law, and humanity. In live scenes, the artist pushed philosophical ideas.

In historical - allegorical groups Santi revives the images of Plato, Aristotle, Diogenes, Socrates, Euclid, Ptolemy. Monumental works required from the master the knowledge of the most complex painting technique - frescoes, mathematical calculations and a steel hand. It was truly a titanic work!

In their stations (rooms) Raphael managed to find an unprecedented synthesis of painting and architecture. The fact is that the interiors of the Vatican were very complex in design. The artist faced almost impossible compositional problems. But Santi came out of this test as a winner.

The stanzas are masterpieces not only in terms of the plastic solution of the figures, the characteristics of the images, and the coloring. In these frescoes, the viewer is struck by the grandeur of the architectural ensembles created by the painter's brush, created by his dream of beauty.

In one of the frescoes of the Signature Hall, among the philosophers and enlighteners, as if a participant in this high dispute, there is himself Rafael Santi. A thoughtful young man is looking at us. Big, beautiful eyes, deep look. He saw everything: both joy and sorrow - and better than others felt the Beauty that he left to people.

Raphael was the greatest portrait painter of all times and peoples. Images of his contemporaries Pope Julius II, Baltasar Castiglione, portraits of cardinals draw us proud, wise and strong-willed people of the Renaissance. The plasticity, coloring, sharpness of the characteristics of the images on these canvases are amazing.

In general, during his short thirty-seven-year life, the master created many unsurpassed, unique paintings. But still, the most important are the inspired Madonnas, who are distinguished by a special mysterious beauty. Beauty, Kindness, and Truth are intertwined in them.

Painting " Holy family. Madonna with beardless Joseph” or “”, written at the age of twenty-three, is a kind of creative “exercise” of the artist, who solved the problem of building a composition that is ideally coordinated in all its parts.

Its center is indicated by the figure of the Child. Highlighted by a beam of light directed directly at her, she, the brightest spot in the picture, immediately attracts the viewer's attention. Truly remarkable is the perseverance and determination with which Santi consistently achieves the impression of an internal relationship between the characters and their spatial environment. The baby sits on Mary's lap, but his eyes are turned towards Joseph - the usual for Raphael a compositional technique, with the help of which it is possible to strengthen the connection with each other of the figures located next to each other, not only visually, but also emotionally. Purely pictorial techniques serve the same purpose. So, the smooth parabolic lines outlined in the outlines of the sleeve of the Virgin Mary find an echo both in the outline of the figure of the Infant and in the movement of the folds of Joseph's cloak.

Madonna and Child - one of the leitmotifs in art Raphael: in just four years in Florence, he wrote at least a dozen paintings varying this plot. The Mother of God sometimes sits with the Child in her arms, sometimes plays with him or just thinks about something, looking at her son. Sometimes little John the Baptist is added to them.

So, "", written by him in 1512 - 1513, received the highest recognition. The mother holds the child in her arms and carries it to us, to our world. The Holy Mystery has come to pass - a man has been born. Now he has life in front of him. The gospel story is only a pretext for solving the complex allegory of an eternal idea. Life for a human being entering into it is not only joy, but also searches, falls, ups and downs, sufferings.

A woman carries her son into a cold and terrible world full of achievements and joy. She is a mother, she anticipates the fate of her son, everything that is destined for him. She sees his future, therefore, in her eyes - horror, horror of the inevitable, and grief, and fear for her baby.

And yet she does not stop at the earthly threshold, she crosses it.

The face of the Child is most striking. Looking into the eyes of the Infant, unusually bright, brilliant, almost frightening the viewer, the impression is not only formidable, but something wild and "obsessed" with a meaningful look. This is God, and, like God, he is also initiated into the secret of his future, he also knows what awaits him in this world into which the curtain has opened. He clung to his mother, but does not seek protection from her, but, as it were, says goodbye to her, as soon as he enters this world and accepts the whole burden of trials.

Weightless flight of the Madonna. But another moment - and she will set foot on the ground. She gives people the most precious thing - her son, a new person. Accept him, people, he is ready to accept deathly torments for you. This is the main idea that the artist expressed in painting.

It is this idea that awakens good feelings in the viewer, connects Santi with the first names, elevates him as an artist to an unattainable height.

In the middle of the 18th century, the Benedictines sold " Sistine Madonna» Elector Friedrich - August II, in 1754 she was in the collection of the Dresden National Gallery. " Sistine Madonna"became the object of worship of all mankind. It began to be called the most Great and Immortal picture of the world.

The image of pure beauty can be seen in the portrait "". "" was painted by the artist during his stay in Florence. The image of a young beautiful girl he created is full of charm and virgin purity. This impression is also associated with a mysterious animal, peacefully lying on her knees - a unicorn, a symbol of purity, female purity and chastity.

For a long time " lady with unicorn"Ascribed to Perugino, then to Titian. It was only in the 1930s that the authorship of Raphael was discovered and confirmed. It turned out that initially the artist depicted a lady with a dog, then a mythical creature, a unicorn, appeared on her knees.

Beautiful stranger pictured Raphael, seems to be a "deity", "shrine". She is in infinite harmony with the world that surrounds her.

This work Raphael as if a kind of dialogue of the genius of the Renaissance with Leonardo da Vinci, who had just created his famous " Mona Lisa”, which managed to make a deep impression on the young artist.

Using Leonardo's lessons, the Madonna Master follows the teacher. He places his model in space on the balcony and against the background of the landscape, dividing the plane into different zones. The portrait of the depicted model conducts a dialogue with the viewer, creating a new imagery and revealing her other, not ordinary, inner world.

The coloristic decision in the portrait also plays a huge role. A colorful and vibrant palette, built on a gradation of light and pure colors, gives the landscape a clear transparency, imperceptibly shrouded in a light misty haze. All this further emphasizes the integrity and purity of the landscape against its background of the image of a lady.

Fresco with tempera paints on wood Transfiguration”, which Raphael began to paint in 1518 by order of Cardinal Giulio Medici for the Cathedral of Narbonne, can be perceived as an artistic commandment of the artist.

The canvas is divided into two parts. At the top is the plot of the Transfiguration. The Savior with outstretched hands, in flowing righteous clothes, hovers against the backdrop of a haze illuminated by the brilliance of His own radiance. On both sides of Him, also hovering in the air, Moses and Elijah are the elders; the first, as already noted, with the tablets in his hands. At the top of the mountain, the blinded Apostles lie in various poses: they cover their faces with their hands, unable to endure the light emanating from Christ. To the left on the mountain are two outside witnesses of the miracle of the Transfiguration, one of them has a rosary. Their presence does not find justification in the gospel story and was apparently dictated by some considerations of the artist unknown to us now.

There is no feeling of miracle and grace of Tabor light in the picture. But there is a feeling of emotional oversaturation of people, which overlaps the miraculous phenomenon itself.

In the lower half of the picture at the foot of the mountain Santi depicted two lively groups of people: on the left - the remaining nine Apostles, on the right - a crowd of Jews, in which a kneeling woman and a Jew are visible in the foreground, supporting a possessed boy, whose strong writhing, blurred look and open mouth reveal his severe mental and physical suffering. The crowd implores the Apostles to heal the demon-possessed. The apostles look at him with amazement, unable to alleviate his plight; some of them point to Christ.

If you look closely at the face of Christ, which Raphael wrote on the eve of his death, and compare it with the "" artist, you can find some similarities.

Rafael Santi- The great Artist with a cheerful and good disposition died unexpectedly on a spring evening, at his thirty-seventh birthday. He left this world full of divine beauty after a short illness on April 6, 1520 in his studio. It seemed that art died along with the Great and Revered Artist. According to the will of Raphael Santi, he was buried among the great people of Italy in the Pantheon.

"Carrying the Cross" is one of the most tragic works of Raphael. It conveys not only the moment of their life of Christ, described in religious sources, but also human emotions, which the author so diligently conveyed. The feeling of sadness […]

"Bridgewater Madonna" is part of a series of paintings by Raphael Santi dedicated to images of the Madonna. The brush of the legendary artist diligently painted the images of the Madonna, each time trying to find, "probe" that very ideal, mysterious and unattainable. The desire to portray […]

Ceiling fresco, mosaic. Dimensions: 120 x 105 cm. Dated 1509-1511. Located in Stanza della Senyatura, Apostolic Palace, Vatican. The indicated stanza - translated from Italian as a room - is the study of the Pope […]

The great Italian artist Rafael Santi was left an orphan early, but he gained his first experience as a painter in the workshop of his father, who painted at the court of the Duke of Urbino. Later in his work, Rafael focused on the first […]

The amazing time of the Renaissance gave the history of many brilliant sculptors and artists. It is noteworthy that talented people of that time possessed precisely a versatile gift - painting, sculptural, graphic, and sometimes even architectural. The genius of Raphael is more than […]

In the image, one can clearly see how Raphael was influenced by the work of another artist, Michelangelo. A sacred group is depicted in the center of the canvas - the four evangelists are depicted by four beasts. In the center is not dressed God the Father. His body […]

The work was written in 1502-1503 for the Oddi altarpiece. An interesting fact when creating this canvas was that the artist did not independently determine the main components of the image. At the same time, his favorite religious theme in the early […]

The great Italian painter was born in 1483 in Urbino. His father was also a painter and graphic artist, so the future master began his studies in his father's workshop.

Rafael's parents died when the boy was barely 11 years old. After their death, he went to Perugia to study at the workshop of Pietro Perugino. He spent about 4 years in the workshop of the master and during this time he acquired his own style.

Carier start

As the short biography of Rafael Santi says, after completing his studies, the artist went to live and work in Florence. Here he met such outstanding masters as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Bartolomeo della Porta. He studied with these outstanding masters the secrets of portraiture and sculpture.

In 1508 the artist moved to Rome and became the official painter of the papal court. He held this position under both Pope Julius II and Pope Leo X. It was for the latter that Raphael painted the Sistine Chapel, the greatest masterpiece of the Renaissance.

In 1514, Raphael became the chief architect of St. Peter's Cathedral. He also did a lot of excavations in Rome, worked on commission for numerous churches, painted portraits (though mostly portraits of friends), and carried out especially significant private orders.

A retrospective of the artist's work: the Florentine period

The artist completed his first works in his father's workshop. The most striking example of the work of the young artist is the Banner with the image of the Holy Trinity. This work is still in the house-museum in Urbino.

While studying with Pietro Perugino, Rafael began to work on the images of his classical Madonnas. His most striking work of the period from 1501 to 1504 is the Conestabile Madonna.

The Florentine period is the most eventful in the life of Raphael. He created at this time his recognized masterpieces, such as: “Lady with a Unicorn”, “Holy Family”, “St. Catherine of Alexandria".

Also during this period, he painted a lot of Madonnas. The Raphael Madonna is, first of all, a mother (most likely, the artist was greatly influenced by the early departure of his own mother). The best Madonnas of this period: “Madonna with a Carnation”, “Madonna Granduk”, “Beautiful Gardener”.

A retrospective of the artist's work: the Roman period

The Roman period of creativity is the pinnacle of the artist's career. He moved away from classical biblical stories a little and turned to Antiquity. Recognized world masterpieces are: “The School of Athens”, “Parnassus”, “Sistine Madonna” (painting on the wall of the Sistine Chapel is the pinnacle of Raphael’s skill), “Madonna Alba”, “Madonna with a Fish”.

Death of an artist

Raphael died in 1520, presumably from Roman fever, which he "caught" during excavations. Buried in the Pantheon.

Other biography options

• Raphael was familiar with A. Dürer. It is known that the latter gave Raphael his self-portrait, but his fate is still unknown.
• Villa Farnesina is a special stage in the artist's activity. It can be said that for the first time he turns to ancient mythology and historical painting. This is how the frescoes “The Triumph of Galatea” and “The Wedding of Alexander and Roxana” appear. Interestingly, Raphael also painted from the nude. His best work in this regard is Fornarina (it is believed that most of the female portraits made by the artist were copied from his model and beloved Fornarina, whose fate is little known).
• Raphael wrote beautiful sonnets, mostly dedicated to the love of women.
• In 2002, one of Raphael's graphic works was sold at Sotheby's for a record amount for this type of work - £ 30 million.