Raphael - A Painter and Architect
/Throughout the Italian Renaissance, there were many great people who lived in this era. Some of these people include the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and many more of course. But one of the more influential artists from back then was none other than Raphael Sanzio, an Italian painter and architect. Raphael, Leonardo, and Michelangelo were known as the three Great High Renaissance masters. But out of these artists, Raphael was the youngest out of the three of them as he died at the early age of 37. That being said though, Raphael’s life was full of many accomplishments and he created many masterpieces.
For all his creations, his work was admired for its form and its ease of composition and you can definitely see how much work he put into his paintings. Some of his most famous paintings include The Alba Madonna, Portrait of a Lady with a Unicorn, La Fornarina, but out all of these, the most impressive one in my opinion happens to be the School of Athens painting (1509-1511) . This piece was apart of a much larger commission requested by Pope Julius II and was placed in Julius’s library. Julius requested this commission after the first piece Raphael created for him which was entitled “The Disputation of the Holy Sacrament” and it impressed Julius so much that he designated Raphael to be the sole painter for his apartments, which is definitely a high honor.
But getting back to the painting itself, the idea behind this piece was that Raphael created a scene of learning and order. The painting itself includes multiple philosophers and major thinkers from ancient Greece. At the center of the painting lies the philosophers Aristotle and Plato, and also within the picture lies three major thinkers from ancient Greece. They are Socrates, (who stands in a green rob) Pythagoras (the man kneeling with a book), and Euclid who’s using a compass to demonstrate a mathematical idea (the man who is bending over in the orange rob). I think it’s safe to say that Raphael really outdid himself with this piece, and it shows his full dedication to his artwork.
the school of athens
St Peter's Basilica (Modern Day)
Now even though Raphael was known for his outstanding artwork, he was lesser known for his architectural work. Most of whatever architectural work he has done is mostly limited to drawings in our current time. This is because most of the architectural work he had created was un-finished and whatever he did start was either not completed or later replaced with something more structural per se. That being said though, Raphael had many pieces of work completed on varying levels. Some examples of those completed works were the likes of St Peter's Basilica, Villa Madama, Chigi Chapel, and many others. But even though the work was finished, there’s no guarantee the work being untouched forever. This could most likely be due to things getting older over time and those things would need to be either repaired or replaced because of that.
Even though Raphael wasn’t the largest figure in the Italian Renaissance, he definitely left his mark on the art world. He created many works of art and had so many solid ideas for architecture that really shows to this day. His work, as that of many others, has helped to shape the world of art and how people would view it. His own style really helped to show all sorts of things that made him unique from other artists and I for one can respect that. Though he may have left the world at a younger age them some other artists, he still did his very best work even till his end. It shows that he wasn’t just dedicated to his work, but he really enjoyed everything about what he had created.
To be honest, I’m not a huge art guy. But what makes me appreciate the artwork from the Italian Renaissance is that you can see the devotion that these people put into their work. Just seeing how dedicated they were inspires me to put all of my energy into doing what I like, which is writing stories. That’s why the Italian Renaissance is important to me.
For more information on Raphael’s work, feel free to visit https://www.facebook.com/Raphael-Sanzio-The-Complete-Works for more information.
Ryan Kinney
I’m currently a student in the Professional Writing program. I really like writing about superheroes and on my spare time I’m usually playing video-games or reading about mythology or fantasy.
