Raphael

Raphael was an Italian painter and architect. He was one of the major figures of the High Renaissance. A highly prolific artist who left behind an enormous collection of paintings at the time of his untimely death at the age of 37, he is best known for his paintings of Madonna and for his large figure compositions in the Palace of the Vatican in Rome. Born as the son of an artist, he received his early instruction in art from his father who worked as a court painter to the Duke. His father was an educated and cultured man, and under his guidance young Raphael was raised in an artistically and intellectually stimulating environment. Encouraged by his father, Raphael began painting at a young age and was placed under the training of the Umbrian master Pietro Perugino. However, life dealt a major blow to him when both his parents died within years of each other leaving him orphaned at the age of 11. He grew up to live a nomadic life, working in various centres in Northern Italy, probably spending a good deal of time in Florence as the influence of Florentine art is evident in his paintings. He gained much acclaim as an artist during his lifetime, and together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of the High Renaissance