He studied under Pietro Perugino before attaching himself to Fra Bartolomeo in Florence and concentrating on religious subjects rendered in a graceful,restrained style. In 1508 he was summoned to Rome by Julius II to work on the decoration of the Vatican. During this period, the artist expanded his repertoire to include portraits and mythological subjects.
Raphael was born as the Italian Renaissance flourished and destined to join the ranks of the immortals being regarded, along with Michelangelo and Leonardo, as one of the three giants of Renaissance art.Born in Urbino in 1483 Raphael received his earliest training from his father Giovanni,a provincial court painter. He studied under Pietro Perugino before attaching himself to Fra Bartolomeo in Florence and concentrating on religious subjects rendered in a graceful,restrained style. In 1508 he was summoned to Rome by Julius II to work on the decoration of the Vatican. During this period, the artist expanded his repertoire to include portraits and mythological subjects. Although best known for his numerous Madonnas, Raphael also displayed genius as an architect and, after the death of Bramante in 1514, he superin-tended the building of the new cathedral of St. Peter's, which occupied him until his death in 1520.
Raphael, has long been regarded as one of the supreme draughtsmen of the Renaissance; he inherited a new approach to drawings that developed in Florence in the fifteenth century and which in his hands reaches a mastery that has never been surpassed. While the influence of Leonardo and Michelangelo is evident in his compositions, art historian Richard Cocke's incisive study reveals how Raphael developed his own unique style - clarity of form and ease of composition - that has retained a timeless,universal appeal.
INTRODUCTION
The Madonna of the Pinks
CHAPTER ONE: EARLY WORK
Public Commissions
Private Commissions
Public Commissions, The Ma,'riage of tke Virgin
CHAPTER TWO: RAPHAEL IN FLORENCE
The Impact of Leonardo and Michelangelo
Raphael as Draughtsman
First Florentine Commissions
Private Devotional Paintings
Later Public commissions
Madonna del Baldacchino and Entombment
Later Private Devotional Pictures
CHAPTER THREE: RAPHAEL IN ROME
The Stanza della Segnatura
The Ceiling
Wall Frescoes
CHAPTER FOUR: RAPHAEL IN ROME
IN THE SERVICE OF THE POPE
The Stanza d'Eliodovo
The Stanza dell'Incendio
The Sala di Costantino
The Tapestries for the Sistine Chapel and their Cartoons
The L0gge
CHAPTER FIVE: RAPHAEL IN ROME
PRIVATE COMMISSIONS
Altarpieces
Private Devotional Pictures
Portraiture
The Papal Banker, Agostino Chigi, Galatea
S. Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria dell Pace
Sala di Psiche, Villa Farnesina
The Papal Family
The Villa Madama
Palace Designs
POSTSCRIPT
ILLUSTRATIONS
OUTSTANDING DATES IN RAPHAELS
LIFE AND CAREER
FURTHER READING
INDEX
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS