Get to Know the Life and Work of Raphael, the Prince of Painters

Raphael’s work has been renowned for its delicacy and clarity in technique while achieving the grandiose themes of the Renaissance. Despite his death at the age of 37, in the peak of his career, and a consequently smaller body of work than his contemporaries, he is still recognized as one of the most important painters of his time. Read on to learn more key facts about Raphael, his life, and his career.

Raphael’s Early Years in Urbino

Raphael was born to a wealthy Urbino merchant family. His father, Giovanni Santi di Pietro, was a painter for the Duke of Urbino, Federico da Montefeltro. Although his father held this high-ranking position, he was regarded as a painter “of no great merit” by 16th-century artist and art historian Giorgio Vasari.

However, Giovanni was very culturally adept, and through him, Raphael was exposed to and influenced by the modern, sophisticated cultural epicenter of Urbino. Federico da Montefeltro’s court was a lively cultural center of the Italian Renaissance, attracting many leading artists of the time, including  Donato Bramante, Piero della Francesca, and Leon Battista Alberti. His father also arranged for him to study under the renowned Italian Renaissance painter Pietro Perugino at the age of eight.

He Worked in Urbino, Florence, and Rome

After his father died, leaving him orphaned at age eleven, Raphael took over his studio in Urbino and was exposed to the humanistic mindset at the court. He was still working under Perugino at that time, graduating at the age of seventeen with the recognition of a master. In 1504, the same year he created his first major work (The Marriage of the Virgin), he moved to Siena and then to Florence, the buzzing epicenter of the Italian Renaissance.

During his time in Florence, Raphael produced numerous Madonnas, including The Madonna of the Goldfinch (c. 1505), La Belle Jardinière (c. 1507, seen above), and developed into artistic maturity. He remained in Florence for four years, cultivating his own recognizable style. He was then invited to work under Pope Julius II in Rome, thanks to the recommendation of Donato Bramante, the architect of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, where he lived for the rest of his life (more about this later).

While in Florence, Raphael met his lifelong rivals, fellow painters Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. He was persuaded to diverge from the more sophisticated style learned from Perugino to adopt the more emotive, ornamented style used by da Vinci.

Leonardo da Vinci then became one of Raphael’s primary influences; Raphael studied his renderings of the human form, his use of the lush coloration known as chiaroscuro and sfumato, and his grandiose style. From this, he created a style of his own that utilized his delicate technique to create rich and decadent pieces.

Raphael and Michelangelo were bitter rivals, both being prominent Renaissance painters who worked in Florence and Rome. In Florence, Michelangelo even accused Raphael of plagiarism after he produced a painting that resembled one of his own.

While the two painters both exhibited remarkable skill in their works, Raphael’s friendly character and amiable disposition made him a favorite with many patrons, eventually exceeding Michelangelo in notoriety. However, due to his death in Rome at the age of 37, Raphael’s cultural influence was eventually surpassed by that of Michelangelo.

Raphael Was the Leading Artist in Renaissance Rome

After Pope Julius II commissioned him to paint in Rome, Raphael continued to work in the city for the next 12 years until his death in 1520. He then worked for Pope Julius II’s successor, Pope Leo X (the son of Lorenzo de’ Medici), earning him the title ‘Prince of Painters’ and making him the leading painter in the Medici Court.

His first works in Rome included a cycle of frescoes in Pope Julius II’s apartment in the Vatican (including the renowned School of Athens), the fresco of Galatea in the Villa Farnesina, and designing the interior of the church of St. Eligio degli Orefici with Bramante. In 1517, Raphael was appointed the commissioner of antiquities of Rome, a position that gave him full control over the artistic projects in the city related to architecture, painting, and the preservation of antiquities.

During his time in Rome, Raphael also received various commissions for architectural projects. He was the Architectural Commissioner in charge of the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica in 1514. He also worked on the Villa Madama, an abode of the later Pope Clement VII (also a member of the Medici family), the Chigi Chapel, and the Palazzo Jacopo da Brescia.

Although Raphael never married, he was known for his sexual exploits. In his 1550 The Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects, Giorgio Vasari described him as a “very amorous man who was fond of women.”

He became engaged to Maria Bibbiena in 1514, but she died of illness before they wed. Raphael’s most famous love affair was with Margherita Luti. Little is known about her life aside from the fact that she served as his model and is rendered in several of his paintings.

Raphael died on April 6, 1520, both his 37th birthday and Good Friday. While the actual cause of his death is not known, Giorgio Vasari suggests that he acquired a fever after a passionate night with Margherita Luti. He then claims that Raphael never disclosed the reason for his fever and was thus treated with the wrong medicine, which killed him.

Raphael had an extremely grand funeral and requested to be buried next to his late fiancée, Maria Bibbiena, in the Pantheon in Rome. At the time of his death, he was working on his final piece, Transfiguration, which was hung above his grave at his funeral procession.

Auctioned Works by Raphael

Head of a Muse by Raphael
Price realized: GBP 29,161,250
Auction house: Christie’s, 2009