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| Sanzio Raphael |
| 1483-1520 |
| European Artist |
| Raphael was born in Urbino, Italy. His artistic life began in the workshop of his teacher, Pietro Perugino. Raphael's rise to fame was meteoric. By 1500, at the age of 17, he was working in Florence and was already famous enough to be regarded as equal of the 48 year old Leonardo and 25 year old Michelangelo. Raphael's fame led to a summons to Rome from Pope Julius II. As painter to the papal court, his work met with high praise, and he established himself as the most favored artist in Rome. He was commissioned to paint portraits, devotional subjects, and the Pope's private rooms; he also designed tapestries. Raphael was soon placed in charge of all papal projects involving architecture, paintings, decoration, and the preservation of antiquities. His untimely death at the age of thirty-seven, Vasari said, "plunged into grief the entire papal court"; the Pope, who "wept bitterly when he died, had intended making him a Cardinal." |
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