Raffaello Sanzio Essay, Research Paper

During a time when Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci were the prime

artists in Europe, a young man by the name of Raffaello Sanzio was

starting to attract major attention with his artworks.

The Italian high renaissance was marked by paintings expressing human

grandeur and very humanistic values. No one better portrayed the Italian

high Renaissance then Raphael Sanzio, with his painting?s clarity and ease

of composition, Raphael was easily one of the greatest painters of this

period.

Born in an artistically influenced town in Italy called Urbino, Raffaello

Sanzio was first taught by his father, Giovanni Santi, how to compose

works of art at a very early age. At the age of fourteen, Raphael?s

father realized his son?s potential and sent him to a very talented

teacher by the name of Pietro Perugino. Pietro Perugino lived from 1478

to 1520, and had a strong influence on Raphael?s early artworks. Perugino

was a Umbrian painter who loved to incorporate beautiful landscapes into

his paintings. Raphael?s early works resembled Perugino?s so much that

paintings such as the Crucifixion with the Virgin, Saint John, Saint

Jerome, and Saint Mary Magdalene were thought to be Raphael?s until the

church of San Gimingniano proved that they were in fact Perugino?s.

“Raphael was only 14. It is undoubtedly a Perugino calmly emotional, and

pious rather than passionate”(Pioch). Unlike the other great painters of

this time such as Michelangelo and Da Vinci, Raphael was born with a great

understanding of art and required little instruction if any. Because of

Raphael?s great understanding of the arts, he quickly surpassed his

teacher and ventured out on his own to the great city of Florence in 1504.

At the same time Raphael arrived in Florence, the other great painters of

time, Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci were the popular painters of the

city. Because of the competitive environment of Florence, Raphael adopted

many new painting techniques such as shading, anatomy, and frozen action.

Both Michelangelo and Da Vinci?s styles influenced Raphael while he was in

Florence. Raphael?s energetic paintings with softness and balance such as

the “Small Cauper Madonna”, were influenced directly from Michelangelo.

While Raphael was in Florence, Duke Guidobaldo employed him to paint a

painting for King Henry VII of England. In the painting “Saint George and

the Dragon”, Raphael portrays Saint George as a brave warrior fighting

against a dragon right outside it?s lair. In contrast to the action of

the painting, the background is peaceful and serene. In the story of

Saint George, after the dragon is slain, the town all converts to

Christianity, symbolizing the triumph of Christianity over all. Raphael

stayed in Florence until he decided to go to Rome where he could branch

out and away from his two competitors.

Once in Rome, Raphael was immediately commissioned by Pope Julius II

because of his uncanny gift for painting sacred and secular paintings.

Julius II had Raphael paint the rooms of the Vatican apartment which

brought life to the otherwise dull walls of the stanze.

When Raphael arrived at the Vatican palace, Michelangelo was busy

painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Raphael started the stanze walls

around 1508 and didn?t finish until 1511. Raphael had painted the walls

to celebrate the four aspects of human accomplishment: theology,

philosophy, arts, and law. To represent theology, was the “Disputation of

the Sacrament”. To represent philosophy was the famous “School of

Athens”, in which Raphael paints Michelangelo and himself in amongst the

philosophers. To represent the arts was “Parnassus” and finally to

represent law was “Cardinal Virtues”. When fused together, these four

aspects marked the transition from the middle ages to modern times.

(Taylor, 59)

After he finished the frescos in the Vatican Palace, Raphael went on to

fresco the Stanza d?Eliodoro between the years 1511 and 1514. Again

Raphael depicted four historical events that illustrated salvation by

divine intervention with his unparalleled gift for painting Christian

paintings.

Throughout Raphael?s artistic career, he went back to painting?s

portraying the Madonna and child many times. “The Alba Madonna”, was one

of Raphael?s most famous Madonnas because it differed so much from

traditional Roman art. The Madonnas of this time were usually shown

sitting on a throne, but Raphael painted her in the middle of a field

which I think added a realism without shattering her queenly image.

Raphael also painted the Alba Madonna in a classic symmetrical triangle

which was consistent with the painting techniques of that time. Raphael?s

painted more then forty Madonnas before his untimely death in 1520. (The

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 22)

After suffering in bed for fifteen days, Raphael Sanzio died on his

birthday at the young age of 37. Raphael seemed to blend harmony and

balance perfectly into his paintings. Two of Raphael?s most famous

artworks that I found to be the most astounding seemed to symbolize his

never ending quest to create the perfect masterpiece. In the painting ”

The School of Athens”, Raphael immortalizes all of the great philosophers

for all of time by capturing them in the height of the Italian

Renaissance. Also in Raphael?s “The Deliverance of Saint Peter from

Prison”, the angel of the Lord seems to strike fear into the hearts of the

soldiers that are guarding Saint Peter?s cell. Raphael captures the

heavenly light from the divine being in such a way that one can almost see

the action taking place.

If one analyzes Raphael?s works, there are reasons for the harmony and

realistic perspective. Raphael looked back to ancient Roman architecture

when painting buildings, the subjects always came from antiquity, such as

Plato and Socrates. The bodies of Raphael?s figures were muscular and

idealized and full of motion and gestures, further adding to the realism.

In the short thirty seven years of his life, Raphael summarized and

epitomized the entire course of Italian humanism. (Taylor, 56) Even though

Raphael did not live as long as Leonardo or Michelangelo, he will always

be ranked along with them as one of the greatest artists of all time.

Taylor, Frances Henry. “Fifty Centuries of Art.” Harper and Brother,

New York, 1960.

“What Makes a Raphael a Raphael.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993.

Pioch, Nicholas. “Raphael.” Webmuseum, Paris. Online.

Http.sunsite.unc.edu.