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Raphael (RAFF ay el) was born in Urbino in the Marche area of central Italy. He probably learned to paint in his father's art studio. His mother died when he was eight, and he became an orphan when he was eleven and his father died.
It was at this time he entered the studio of the artist Perugino. It soon became apparent that he was going to become a great artist. He studied the paintings of Michelangelo and Leonardo di Vinci and was greatly influenced by those artists.
Self-portrait by Raphael
When he was twenty-one years old he moved to Florence and began to paint beautiful portraits. So many people wanted portraits painted by him! He could not paint fast enough to keep up with the demand, so he hired other artists to do parts of the paintings. Raphael might paint the face and let someone else paint the clothing in the picture.
He became so famous that Pope Julius II (the Second) commissioned him to decorate his apartment in the Vatican, the home of the Catholic Church. "The School of Athens" is one of the most famous paintings he did for the Pope.
He created ten pictures known as "cartoons" from which tapestries were made. A tapestry is a picture made with different colors of thread woven to create the image. You can see an example of this in "The Miraculous Draught of Fishes". First he made the painting, then another person created the picture on a wall hanging made of cloth.
( Read the story of "The Miraculous Draught of Fishes".)
Pope Leo X (the Tenth) was the next Pope and he designated Raphael to be the architect of St. Peter's cathedral.
The featured painting on this page is St. George and the Dragon . You will enjoy reading the story behind the legend at Wikipedia.org.
Raphael painted many pictures of Mary and Jesus such as The Madonna Della Sedia which is featured on this page.
He was born on a Good Friday, and he died on a Good Friday on his thirty-seventh birthday.
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists: Raphael
By Grolier Publishing Company
Introduce your young students to the fabulous and fun world of art with the World's Greatest Artists Series. Full-color reproductions and kid-friendly overviews of the artists' life are presented alongside cartoon-characters of the artist, bringing a clever dimension to the series. Fun and educational, these light yet realistic books make an easy and exciting transition into studying the fine arts. Learn who thought Raphael was taking too many of his ideas, and what set Raphael apart from the rest! 32 pages, ages 4-8.
Fandex Field Guide: Painters
By Workman Publishing
Fandex brings the world of Western art to your fingertips with a field guide of painters, their legacies, and the often extreme lives they led. A chronology from Giotto, the first modern painter, to Frank Stella, whose black paintings proclaimed "what you see is what you see." Here is Michelangelo, who resented having to paint the Sistene Chapel because it took him away from sculpture. Botticelli and Vermeer, whose work languised in obscurity until the nineteenth century. Mary Cassatt, the only American to be included with the Impressionists. Illustrating each entry is a portrait or self-portrait of the artist, plus significant paintings and details.
Raphael Biography and Works
from Olga's Gallery
The Life of Raphael
Biography of Raphael
from Art Adventures
The Legend of St. George and the Dragon
Online book about Raphael
by Konody, Open Library.org
Raphael
teachers' resources at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Madonna of the Chair
Raphael
Buy this Art Print at AllPosters.com
Puzzles on these pages courtesy of
Songs of Praise and Armored Penguin
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