Raffaello Sanzio, also known by the name of Santi, was born in 1483 in Urbino, an important art center at that time. Son of art, his father Giovanni works in a shop but leaves him at the age of eleven, only three years after his mother's death.
Raffaello Sanzio grows hand in hand with his fame and when he reaches the age of majority he comes into contact with well-known figures, including the Pinturicchio. At 21 he moved to Florence, cradle of Italian art as well as a reference model for foreign artists. In this period the painter he creates works to which he is particularly attached, including the series of Madonnas with the child, one of his favorite subjects. Suffice it to mention the triptych de The Madonna of the belvedere, The Esterasi Madonna e The Madonna of the goldfinch to bring back some of the most famous works.
Consecration and success
Pope Julius II called him to Rome after a few years, consecrating the activity of Raffaello Sanzio who participates in the construction of the Vatican rooms. This is how one of the most important works that will be a source of inspiration for posterity was born: The school of Athens.
It is curious to note that among the protagonists of this work there are actually well-known personalities of the time, including Michelangelo, under the guise of Heraclitus, who appears seated in the center in a moment of reflection. We can also see Leonardo Da Vinci, who hides under the identity of Plato and Bramante, who has the appearance of Euclid.
In addition to being a great painter, so much so as to make his clients wait even for long periods due to the impressive amount of work, Raffaello Sanzio He is an architect. His name appears among others in the project of the St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.
The Marriage of the Virgin it is a prime example of his skills as well as the first work to show his signature at the bottom. Other titles that wink at excellence are The resurrection of Christ, The three Graces e The Transfiguration, the last work left unfinished and completed by Giulio Romano.
The enigmatic Raffaello Sanzio
One of the most distinctive features of his painting it is the enigmatic nature of the gaze. To appreciate the beauty of his works, you don't have to be an art connoisseur. If we were in the center of a room full of paintings belonging to different names and eras, we would most likely be able to recognize his hand. To understand it, just observe The Fornarina, a woman with a shy and enigmatic smile in a porcelain body.
Raffaello Sanzio he abandons us at the age of 37 and today his body lies in Rome, in Pantheon. He died on his birthday, Good Friday of April 6, 1520. It is said that that day the rooms of the Vatican that had made him so famous were moved by a violent shock and that the sky turned black.
