Whenever you think of the Italian Renaissance, one of the names that inevitably pops into your head is always Raphael. One of the most prolific artists of his time period, Raphael managed to gain fame, and keep it even to this day. His achievements in painting are so well known, even 500 years later, that the man even has a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle named after him! Born to Gioranni Santi and his wife on April 6th, 1483 as Raffello Sanzio, Raphael was exposed to art even at a very young age. His father, Gioranni, was a painter, and trained his son in the arts, and taught him about the ideals of humanism, an important ideal of Reanaissance painters, until his untimely death in 1494, when Raphael was only eleven years old. Luckily, young Raphael was talented enough as a painter that people still commissioned him for paintings until he left for Florence in 1500 to apprentice with Perugino. During this time, Raphael began developing his own sort of style for painting, and discovering what techniques worked best for him. Raphael's work, nowadays, can be identified by qualities of energy, and showing the grandeur of human spirit. his works showed balance and harmony, with many figures who had soft, round faces showing humanity, but ideal perfection and serenity at the same time. In many of his compositions, he used pyramid configurations, as well as chiaroscuro (contrast between light and dark) and sfumato (the use of fine, soft shading instead of lines) in his paintings and frescoes. He also did numerous drawings, in a number of different mediums, from metalpoint, to chalk, to pen and ink. After his apprenticeship ended in 1504, Raphael decided to stay in Florence and work as a painter. Inspired by people such as Bartolommeo, da Vinci, Michaelangelo, and Masaccio, his style developed further to become more expressive and intricate. It was during this time that he worked on what are arguably his most well-known works: The Madonnas. These paintings had well thought out compositions, clear forms, and visually showed grandeur, which made them very admired by both people of the time, and people today. However, in 1508, Raphael decided to move to Rome, and to bigger projects such as frescoes such as the "School of Athens", which were very humanistic in quality. Soon, Raphael became distinguished in Rome as well, and in 1514, was hired by Pope Julius II as chief architect in the Vatican. Raphael and his numerous assistants worked on some of their biggest projects there, such as painting parts of Saint Peter's bailica and Sant Eligo degli Orefici Chapel. The works located there were mostly frescoes as well. Another new development for Raphael was his sort of introduction to architecture. In a short amount of time, he was already helping to design ornate, detailed palaces. This fame and success in his career were cut short, however, when Raphael met his untimely end under mysterious circumstances on his 37th birthday in 1520. In his short lifetime, Raphael still managed to have a great impact on the art world, and influenced Baroque paintings with his use of "Mannerisms". His death also allowed his fellow artist, Michelangelo, to become more influential. If you'd like to know more about Raphael and his life, click on any of the links below x x x x x
0 Comments
|
AuthorA senior at Maggie Walker taking Art IV Archives
May 2018
Categories |