50 Fun Facts About Raphael

In which small Italian city was Raphael born in 1483?

His father Giovanni Santi was court painter to the Duke there.

With which two artists does Raphael form the High Renaissance trinity of masters?

Leonardo was thirty years older; Michelangelo was just eight years his senior and came to loathe him.

Raphael's best-known work, The School of Athens, is in which Vatican room?

It was intended as Julius II's private library and was the first of the Raphael Rooms painted.

How old was Raphael when he died on 6 April 1520?

Vasari claimed he was born and died on Good Friday, and blamed exhaustion from 'unceasing romantic interests'.

Which pope invited Raphael to Rome in 1508?

He was set to fresco the pope's private library, probably on Bramante's suggestion.

Under which Umbrian master did Raphael most probably train?

Vasari said their hands were indistinguishable; Raphael was called a 'master' by December 1500.

Which two philosophers stand at the centre of The School of Athens?

One points to the heavens and holds the Timaeus; the other gestures to earth with his Ethics.

Which artist is believed to be portrayed as Plato in The School of Athens?

Raphael put himself beside Ptolemy; Michelangelo appears as a brooding Heraclitus.

As which philosopher did Raphael paint Michelangelo in The School of Athens?

A vascular surgeon later noted the figure shows varicose veins in the legs.

Beside which ancient figure did Raphael place himself in The School of Athens?

The white-robed figure who stares at the viewer is often read as Hypatia or the pope's nephew.

Which Latin tondo label, 'knowledge of causes', sits above The School of Athens?

The wall represents philosophy; the traditional title is not Raphael's own.

Which book does Raphael put in Plato's hand in The School of Athens?

Aristotle, beside him, carries his Ethics.

Which fresco on the opposite wall from The School of Athens represents theology?

It was finished first, followed by the Parnassus for literature.

In which German city does the Sistine Madonna hang?

Augustus III of Poland bought it in 1754 and reportedly moved his throne to display it better.

Which detail of the Sistine Madonna became famous in its own right as a popular image?

They rest on their elbows beneath the Madonna, Saint Sixtus and Saint Barbara.

For which Piacenza church was the Sistine Madonna commissioned in 1512?

Julius II ordered it in honour of his uncle Pope Sixtus IV.

Where was the Sistine Madonna kept for a decade after World War II?

It travelled in a box on a tented flatcar before returning to Dresden.

Who reportedly cried 'And I also, I am a painter!' on first seeing the Sistine Madonna?

The legend is recorded on the painting's history pages; Vasari called it 'a truly rare and extraordinary work'.

What was Raphael's last painting, unfinished at his death?

It was conceived as an altarpiece for Narbonne Cathedral and is now in the Pinacoteca Vaticana.

Which cardinal, later Pope Clement VII, commissioned Raphael's last altarpiece?

He paired it against Sebastiano del Piombo's Raising of Lazarus, drawn with Michelangelo's help.

Which rival painted The Raising of Lazarus in competition with Raphael's last altarpiece?

Michelangelo supplied drawings but refused to paint it himself.

Which London institution has displayed the Raphael Cartoons on loan since 1865?

They belong to the Royal Collection; Charles I bought them from Genoa in 1623.

How many of the ten Raphael Cartoons survive?

They show scenes from the lives of Saints Peter and Paul for Sistine Chapel tapestries.

In which city were the Sistine tapestries woven from Raphael's cartoons?

The weaving cost 15,000 ducats against Raphael's fee of 1,000.

The Raphael Cartoons were once described as the what 'of modern art'?

Admiration peaked in the 18th and 19th centuries through prints.

Who was 'La Fornarina', Raphael's long-term lover in Rome?

Her nickname means baker's daughter; her father Francesco was a baker from Siena.

What signature is engraved on the armband in the portrait La Fornarina?

An overpainted ruby ring on her finger has fuelled talk of a secret marriage.

Which Rome palace houses La Fornarina?

The Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica owns it; two copies hang in the Borghese.

To whose niece was Raphael reluctantly engaged from 1514?

Maria Bibbiena died in 1520 without the wedding ever taking place.

Where was Raphael buried at his own request?

He died on Good Friday 1520, possibly his 37th birthday.

Whom did Raphael succeed as architect of the new St Peter's in 1514?

His gloomy nave design, 'like an alley', was later dropped for Michelangelo's plan.

Which Medici pope succeeded Raphael's first papal patron in 1513?

His cousin Giulio commissioned The Transfiguration; his chamberlain got a Raphael palace.

Over what was Raphael given powers as Prefect in 1515?

Diggers had three days to report finds; masons could not destroy inscriptions without permission.

Which rich banker had Raphael paint The Triumph of Galatea in his villa?

The Villa Farnesina also got Raphael-designed frescoes; he built the Chigi Chapel too.

According to Vasari, how many pupils and assistants did Raphael's workshop reach?

Arguably the largest team under any old master; Giulio Romano and Penni led it.

Which young Roman pupil inherited Raphael's drawings and carried on the workshop?

He was about twenty-one at Raphael's death and later built Mantua's Palazzo Te.

Which engraver made the famous prints after Raphael's designs?

Raphael made no prints himself; the collaboration spread his style across Europe.

Which friend of Raphael wrote The Book of the Courtier and coined 'sprezzatura'?

Castiglione defined it as 'a certain nonchalance which conceals all artistry'.

What was Raphael's father's profession?

Giovanni Santi also wrote a rhymed chronicle of Duke Federico da Montefeltro.

At what age was Raphael orphaned?

His mother died when he was eight; his uncle Bartolomeo, a priest, became guardian.

Which Milan gallery holds Raphael's 1504 Marriage of the Virgin?

A general carried it off from Città di Castello; the Italian state bought it in 1806 for 53,000 francs.

Which Umbrian town received Raphael's first documented work, the Baronci Altarpiece?

Commissioned in 1500, it survives only in cut fragments and a drawing.

Which fellow Perugino pupil invited Raphael to Siena in 1502 to help with cartoons?

The frescoes were for the Piccolomini Library in Siena Cathedral.

Which 18th-century art historian made Raphael a formative model for Neoclassicism?

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood later reacted explicitly against his influence.

Which English group named itself in reaction against Raphael's influence?

They also rejected his admirers such as Joshua Reynolds.

What did Michelangelo complain Raphael had got from him, years after Raphael's death?

Vasari said Bramante let Raphael secretly into the Sistine Chapel to see the ceiling.

Which unfinished hillside retreat for the future Clement VII did Raphael design?

Palladio made a measured drawing of it, the only modern Roman building he treated that way.

Which just-finished painting did Raphael echo in a pyramidal drawing of a young woman?

Leonardo's return to Florence in 1500–06 reshaped Raphael's figures and sfumato.

For how much did Raphael offer in 1519 to move an obelisk to St Peter's Square?

Marino Sanuto's diary records the offer; his map of ancient Rome was never made.

What event in 1527 scattered and killed members of Raphael's former workshop?

The dispersal helped spread versions of his style around Italy and beyond.