1. Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary
2. Crocefissione
Raphael came from the Italian city of Urbino. He was well-educated by his father, who was himself a noted painter. Like many young men of his day, Raphael gained skills in all the refined arts.
3. Lady with Unicorn
4. Woman with a Veil
Due to his proper education, Raphael was well placed and well suited to the higher social circles that were necessary for an artist to seek commissions from. So, whereas his fellow master, Michelangelo, was a little untutored, Raphael had no problem mixing with the well-to-do of his time.
5. Sueno del Caballero
6. The Deposition
Though his contemporaries Leonardo and Michelangelo are considered greater creative geniuses, Raphael stood out from the pack, due to his works’ greater, and more learned, grace.
7. The Engagement of Mary
8. Portrait of Pietro Bembo
He was particularly taken with classical ideas of perfection and imitated the style of the ancients. However, he was also a man of his time. Thus he can be well-aligned to the Florentine tradition of art that marked his era.
9. Self Portrait, aged 23
10. Christ Blessing
From the turn of the 16th Century, Raphael became famous. He was given big commissions, which promised wealth and immortality.
11. Madonna del Cardellino
12. Conestabile Madonna
In 1504 Raphael actually moved his workshop to Florence, which was at that time the center of the Renaissance art world. He befriended the great Leonardo and Michelangelo, though he often fell out with the latter.
13. Solly Madonna
14. St. Sebastian
While Michelangelo was busy working on the Sistine Chapel, Pope Julius II also invited Raphael to Rome to paint the Vatican. Here Raphael painted works that have stood the test of time.
15. Portrait of a Young Woman, aka. La Muta (the Mute)
16. Saint George & the Dragon
Many of these Roman works are considered by connoisseurs to be masterpieces.
17. The Annunciation
18. Von der Ropp Madonna
Like many artists, it was considered normal for Raphael to devote much of his time to preserving his talent by teaching youngsters the art of painting.
19. Madonna and Child with Book
20. The Three Graces
In Rome, his school had more than fifty pupils, keen to sit at the knee of the great master.
21. The School of Athens
22. St. Michael
Though Raphael, like many of his day, did not restrict his activities to painting. He was also a well-established drawer, engraver, and even an architect.
23. The Adoration of the Magi
24. Portrait of Francesco Maria I della Rovere
Aged just 37, on April 6th, 1570 Raphael died. Unlike the cliché would have us expect, he was very famous and loved during his own lifetime. His funeral was attended by thousands of ordinary people, mourners of a great artist.
