Raphael

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

RAFFAELLO SANZIO, or SANTI D'URBINO, the greatest of modern painters, and head of the Roman school; born in Urbino, Italy, March 28, 1483. He received his earliest instructions from his father, Giovanni Santi, after whose death, in 1494, he became the pupil of Perugino. In 1504 he visited Florence, and chiefly lived there till 1508, when he was called to Rome by Pope Julius II., and employed to paint the stanze (chambers) of the Vatican. Raphael spent spent the rest of his short life at Rome, where he formed a numerous school of painters, among whom the most eminent were Giulio Romano, Gian Francesco Pennis, Pierino del Vaga, Polidoro da Caravaggio, and Garofalo. In the RAPHAEL numerous works, frescoes, and oil paintings of this unrivaled master, three styles are distinctly recognizable. The first is the "Peruginesque,” in which sentiment predominates, and was the pure imitation of his master's manner. The second is the "Florentine," marked by a great advance in respect to form and dramatic composition; it was the result of his studies at Florence; where he was impressed by the cartoons of Leonardo da Vinci and Michael Angelo, and the works of Masaccio, Francia, and Fra Bartolomeo di San Marco. The third style is called the "Roman," and is peculiarly Raphael's own-that which constitutes him the greatest of painters. Its supreme excellence is the equable de velopment of all the essential qualities of art, composition, expression, design, coloring. Of the paintings executed before his visit to Florence must be named "Coronation of the Virgin," now in the Vatican, and the "Sposalizio, or Marriage of the Virgin," in the Brera at Milan. Among those in his second manner are the "Entombment of Christ," in the Borghese gallery at Rome; the "Madonna del Baldacchino," in the Pitti Palace at Florence; the "Madonna del Gran Duca," in the same palace; and the grand fresco, "Theology," or "Dispute on the Sacrament," the first he executed in the Vatican. "The School of Athens," or "Philosophy," painted in 1511, first showed traces of his third and highest style. It was followed by the "Parnassus," or "Poetry," "Jurisprudence," "Expulsion of Helidorus from the Temple of Jerusalem." The works of Michael Angelo in the Sistine chapel stimulated him in the production of his "Isaiah" and "Sybils"; and in 1515 he prepared the "Cartoons" for the tapestry of the Sis-munity tine chapel, three of which are lost, and the other seven, sent to Flanders, were bought by Charles I., and now form part of the National Collection in South Kensington Museum, London. Among Raphael's oil paintings are the "St. Cecilia," at Bologna; the famous "Madonna di San Sisto," now in the Dresden gallery; the "Spasimo di Sicilia," now at Madrid; and the "Transfiguration," his last wo work, and perhaps at once the chefd'œuvre of Raphael and of painting. ng. It is now in the Vatican. His drawings are very numerous, and are to be found in most of the public and private museums of Europe. Raphael died in Rome from the effects of a cold caught in the Vatican, on his 37th birthday, April 6, 1520.