Hello, and welcome back to our weekly blog where twice a week we will get to embark on a new adventure through history together.
In the last article we talked about the talented artist Donatello and we took a look at his amazing artwork such as David, Saint George, and Saint John the Evangelist. And today we will be talking about the artist Raphael.
A bit about the artist
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino was born between March 28th and April 6th, 1483, and it is said that he passed on April 6th, 1520. Though we know him as Rafael! Raphael was a painter and architect of the High Renaissance, and he completed the traditional trinity of the great masters of that period.
Once his father passed, Raphael trained in the workshop of Perugino, and he was known as a “Master” by 1500.
Raphael’s father was a painter to the Duke of the central Italian city of Urbino, and it is said that even at age eleven, Raphael had already shown significant talent and had been “a great help” to his father.
Onto the art gallery
The art from Raphael is truly mesmorizing, and talent from such a young age is absolutely unique that we cannot help but just be in awe of his work.
The first art piece we will look at today is called “The madonna of the pinks”
The Madonna of the Pinks in an early devotional painting, it is painted with oil on a highly toxic yew wood. The painting is currently hanging in the national Gallery in London.
The second art we will look at is called “Saint Catherine of Alexandria”
This painting was created between 1507-1509 and it shows Raphael in a transitional phase. Some fun notes on this painting: Catherine’s pose in this painting is typical to the types of art from Leonardo da Vinci and is believed to be an echo of Leonardo’s painting “Leda and the swan” In 2022, the painting was included in an exhibition held by the National Gallery.
The third art we will look at today is called “the Stanza della Segnatura”
The Stanze, as they are commonly called was originally a suite of apartments for Pope Julius II. The location is at the Apostolic Palace, part of the Vatican museums in Rome.
The End of Today’s Article
Though there are so many amazing art pieces created by Raphael, i am glad we got to go over some of the most famous art pieces of his today. This will bring us to the end of our art galleries, but I leave you with this question, Can you name any other art by Raphael that was not in this gallery? if you can Send it in a letter to Georgia Clearless answering this question and you will recieve a prize.Fancy writing a blog of your own?
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Georgia Clearless