His Early Life

Raphael was born Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, in 1483 in the Duchy of Urbino, not far from the modern-day city of Florence. He was born into a family of artists, as his father was court painter to the Duke of Urbino. Raphael’s father owned a family workshop, and when he died, Raphael was just eleven years old. Raphael played an important role in managing the workshop thereafter. He trained as an apprentice in the workshop of an acclaimed master painter Pietro Perugino. Raphael was declared a fully trained ‘master’ by the year 1500 when he was barely 17 years of age.

A Contemporary of Greats Like da Vinci and Michelangelo

Raphael worked in various centres in Northern Italy in the years that followed and spent considerable time in Florance, which was a hotbed of creativity during that period of time. The famous artist Leonardo da Vinci, who was 31 years senior to him and another great artist of those days, Michelangelo, who was eight years senior, were his contemporaries. Together the three famous artists completed the trifecta of great Italian artists. Like his two other legendary counterparts, Raphael proved himself to be a master of many disciplines, a prolific painter, draughtsman, architect, archaeologist, etc.

Influence of Leonardo da Vinci on Him

The influence that Leonardo had on young Raphael is well documented by art historians. Two of the most important da Vinci compositions such as ‘Mona Lisa‘ and ‘Holy Family Pyramid’, which Raphael replicated in a series of works rank amongst Raphael’s most famous paintings. ‘The Garvagh Madonna’ (also called ‘Madonna and Child with the infant Baptist) is one other important example. After Florance, Raphael moved to Rome at the invitation of the new pope, Julius II and this city became his primary residence for the remainder of his life.

‘The School of Athens’

Raphael’s painting ‘The School of Athens’ is considered his greatest and it represents the worldly truth, i.e, philosophy. The painting is populated by the figures of well-known western intellectual thought from Plato and Aristotle to Ptolemy and Euclid. After painting this famous work, Raphael knew that he had created something that would change the course of painting forever. It is one of the artist’s most brilliant works and in order to show how good he was, Raphael included himself in the scene with the same moody face of his earlier self-portrait.

‘Transfiguration‘

Raphael’s painting ‘Transfiguration’ is one his most controversial paintings that he completed before his untimely death on April 6, 1520, his 37th birthday from a fever. Although the Transfiguration of Christ was a popular scene to depict at that time, Raphael’s famous piece of art