Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, now generally known in English as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur. Together with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period.
Presumed portrait of Raphael
Raphael, The School of Athens
Raphael, Cardinal and Theological Virtues, 1511
Giovanni Santi, Raphael's father; Christ supported by two angels, c. 1490
In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians state that the High Renaissance started between 1490 and 1500, and ended in 1520 with the death of Raphael, although some say the High Renaissance ended about 1525, or in 1527 with the Sack of Rome by the mutinous army of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, or about 1530. The best-known exponents of painting, sculpture and architecture of the High Renaissance include Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Bramante. In the 21st century, the use of the term has been frequently criticized by some academic art historians for oversimplifying artistic developments, ignoring historical context, and focusing only on a few iconic works.
Raphael's frescos in the Raphael Rooms of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, also commissioned by Pope Julius II
The Last Supper, mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci
Bramante'sTempietto, designed 1502, San Pietro in Montorio, Rome
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa or La Gioconda (1503–05/07) in the Louvre