Raphael

(Italian, 1483–1520)

Raphael was a seminal Italian painter of the High Renaissance period. Admired for his ability to organize forms and color into clear and graceful compositions, Raphael portrayed scenes with delicate lines and subtle shading, evoking a Platonic ideal of serenity and beauty. In perhaps his best-known work, The Sistine Madonna (1513-1514), the artist conveyed an elaborate scene in which wistful cherubs gaze up at the Virgin Mary, two saints, and her son. Born Raffaello Sanzio on April 6, 1483 in Urbino, Italy, his father was the painter Giovanni Santi who became the young artist’s first instructor. By the age of 17, Raphael was already considered a precocious talent, producing paintings influenced by the work Piero della Francesca. Around the year 1500, he apprenticed with Pietro Perugino, helping the elder artist to produce an important fresco commission in Perugia, an experience that had a profound influence on the young Raphael. Moving to Florence in 1504, he was immersed in the milieu of the one the great epochs of art history, while in the city he studied the works of both Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Called by Pope Julius II to Rome in 1508, Rapahel was hired to complete a cycle of frescoes in the papal apartments inside the Vatican, he would live in the city the next 12 years. The artist died on his 37th birthday on April 6, 1520 in Rome, Italy. According to his biographer Giorgio Vasari, Raphael’s premature death was caused by a fever brought on by excessive lovemaking with his mistress Luti. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Louvre Museum in Paris, the National Gallery in London, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, among others.

Raphael News

Art World

Art Bites: Did Raphael Die From Too Much Sex?

by Richard Whiddington
Art Bites: Did Raphael Die From Too Much Sex?
On View

See How Depictions of Childhood Have Changed Throughout Art History

by Jo Lawson-Tancred
See How Depictions of Childhood Have Changed Throughout Art History
Pop Culture

The Painting Behind the Meme: Raphael's Side-Eyeing Bride

by Verity Babbs
The Painting Behind the Meme: Raphael's Side-Eyeing Bride

Raphael Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Raphael (1,621 results)
The Madonna of the Goldfinch

After Raphael

The Madonna of the Goldfinch

Sale Date: November 16, 1994

Auction Closed

Madonna and Child with Saints Anne, Elizabeth &...

After Raphael

Madonna and Child with Saints Anne, Elizabeth &...

Sale Date: November 16, 1994

Auction Closed

The Madonna della Sedia

After Raphael

The Madonna della Sedia

Sale Date: November 16, 1994

Auction Closed

The Madonna della Sedia

After Raphael

The Madonna della Sedia

Sale Date: November 16, 1994

Auction Closed

The Madonna and Child

After Raphael

The Madonna and Child

Sale Date: November 16, 1994

Auction Closed

The Madonna of the Goldfinch

After Raphael

The Madonna of the Goldfinch

Sale Date: October 30, 1994

Auction Closed

Saint John in the Wilderness

After Raphael

Saint John in the Wilderness

Sale Date: October 27, 1994

Auction Closed

Saint Cecilia with Saints Paul, John the...

After Raphael

Saint Cecilia with Saints Paul, John the...

Sale Date: October 27, 1994

Auction Closed

The Madonna of the Goldfinch

After Raphael

The Madonna of the Goldfinch

Sale Date: October 27, 1994

Auction Closed

The Madonna Goldfinch, 1833

After Raphael

The Madonna Goldfinch, 1833

Sale Date: October 27, 1994

Auction Closed

The Holy Family of Francis I

After Raphael

The Holy Family of Francis I

Sale Date: October 27, 1994

Auction Closed

The Madonna Gran' Duca

After Raphael

The Madonna Gran' Duca

Sale Date: October 27, 1994

Auction Closed

The Madonna of the Goldfinch

After Raphael

The Madonna of the Goldfinch

Sale Date: October 25, 1994

Auction Closed

The Madonna della Sedia

After Raphael

The Madonna della Sedia

Sale Date: October 20, 1994

Auction Closed

La bella giardiniera

After Raphael

La bella giardiniera

Sale Date: October 18, 1994

Auction Closed

La Madonna della sedia

After Raphael

La Madonna della sedia

Sale Date: October 18, 1994

Auction Closed

Philosophers Disputing a Literary Work

After Raphael

Philosophers Disputing a Literary Work

Sale Date: October 10, 1994

Auction Closed

The Madonna della Perla - The Madonna and Child...

After Raphael

The Madonna della Perla - The Madonna and Child...

Sale Date: October 8, 1994

Auction Closed

Portrait of Angelo Doni

After Raphael

Portrait of Angelo Doni

Sale Date: October 8, 1994

Auction Closed

SAINT CECILIA SURROUNDED BY MARY MAGDALENE AND...

In the manner of Raphael

SAINT CECILIA SURROUNDED BY MARY MAGDALENE AND...

Sale Date: October 7, 1994

Auction Closed

Madonna and Child, 1800

After Raphael

Madonna and Child, 1800

Sale Date: October 5, 1994

Auction Closed

Madonna and Child

In the manner of Raphael

Madonna and Child

Sale Date: September 14, 1994

Auction Closed

The Madonna of the Goldfinch

After Raphael

The Madonna of the Goldfinch

Sale Date: September 11, 1994

Auction Closed

Madonna of the Chair

After Raphael

Madonna of the Chair

Sale Date: September 11, 1994

Auction Closed

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