Raphael
By Illa Vij

ARTISTS of every period look long and intently at his paintings that are breath takingly beautiful, and portray immense grace and serenity. He was called the Divine Painter. Raphael Santi died very young but as this body lay in state in his studio, great masses of Rome flocked in to have a last look at the god-gifted young man.

Raphael was born in Urbino, Italy, in 1483. His father was a court painter to the Duke of Urbino. As a young boy, Raphael was trained under Perugino, a master painter of Perugia. Raphael totally absorbed his style. Later he was also influenced by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Masaccio. He also developed his ability as a mural decorator, giving life to figures in his painting. Raphael has also been referred to as a great harvester, as he absorbed, assembled and transformed all that he had extracted from others, into his own style.

A distant kinsman of his, Bramante, an architect, was serving Pope Julius II. Bramante informed Raphael that he was being considered by the Pope to decorate some rooms in the Vatican. Raphael was only 24 years old at that time. Everyone was awed by the work that followed, except for Michelan-gelo, who was working in the Sistine Chapel. Since empty walls were not available the Pope commanded that frescoes in some of the rooms should be erased.

Raphael was deeply anguished to see the works of his old teacher Perugino and other painters washed away. All the same, determined to do his best, Raphael with his assistants covered room after room with scenes representing philosophy, law, poetry and history.

The "School of Athens, dispute of the Sacrament" won him great fame. The "School of Athens portrays an imaginary gathering of great philosophers and scientists, like Plato, and Aristotle. "The Fire in the Borgo" commemorates a miraculous event in the life of Pope Leo IV. It is believed that he (Pope Leo IV) appeared at a window in the Vatican, made the sign of the cross and put out a fire. After Bramante, Raphael became the architect of St Peter’s Cathedral. He was also inspector of monuments and antiquities in Rome. Raphael was engaged to the niece of a cardinal, but the engagement lingered on until his death. It is believed that he was very fond of La Fornarina, a baker’s daughter. She is believed to be the model for the Virgin in the "Sistine Madonna" and "The Veiled Women". The intricate weaving of lines, patterns of folded satin make the painting a classic one. His other works include "The Marriage of the Virgin", "Madonna of the Goldfinch".

Raphael’s style greatly appealed to the Italians. In "Madonna of the Goldfinch", Madonna’s body is in the centre. the two infants — Jesus and John the Baptist — are painted on either side. The heads of the three figures form a triangle. This style of arranging figures to form a triangle he had learnt from Leonardo-da-Vinci. Raphael gave his paintings a unique grace and serenity, that has yet to be surpassed. Exhausted and worn out by work at the height of his success, he caught fever and died on Good Friday, in 1520.