through personal contact with leading explorers and hu-
manists of his day. This was published as the three-volume
Delle navigationi et viaggi (1550–59), a masterpiece widely
acknowledged as the definitive geography sourcebook of
the 16th century. Subsequent early editions (1563 for
vol.1, 1583 for vol.2, 1606 for vol. 3) have been reprinted
in facsimile as Navigationi et viaggi: Venice 1563–1606
(Amsterdam: Theatrum orbis terrarum, 1967–70), with an
introduction by R. A. Skelton and an analysis of the con-
tents by George B. Parks.
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio) (1483–1520) Italian painter
and architect
Raphael was born in Urbino, the son of the painter Gio-
vanni Santi, but little of his early career is documented. He
probably joined PERUGINO’s workshop before 1500, estab-
lishing contacts within the Urbino court as well as with
important patrons in Perugia and Città di Castello. The St.
Nicholas altarpiece (fragments in Capodimonte, Naples,
and Pinacoteca Tosio-Martinengo, Brescia) shows that by
1500 Raphael had already established a reputation as a
competent artist. The Mond Crucifixion (c. 1502; National
Gallery, London) demonstrates his ready assimilation of
Perugino’s style.
By 1504 he had learnt all his master had to teach him
and, armed with an introduction from the Urbino court,
Raphael went to Florence to face the artistic challenges
posed by LEONARDO DA VINCIand MICHELANGELO. Draw-
ings played a vital role in Raphael’s absorption of the Flo-
rentine concerns with mass, form, light, and movement. A
drawing in the British Museum adapting the contrapposto
of Leonardo’s Leda onto a representation of Michelangelo’s
St. Matthew displays an eclectism typical of Raphael. The
evolution of Raphael’s style from the static Umbrian mold
towards a more fluid and emotive idiom is documented in
the series of drawings connected with the Baglioni En-
tombment (1507; Galleria Borghese, Rome). Raphael began
with a Peruginesque Lamentation, which subsequently de-
veloped into a dramatic, if not wholly successful, compo-
sition imbued with the Florentine emphasis on emotive
narrative compositions.
One of Raphael’s earliest Florentine works, the
Madonna del Granduca (c. 1505; Palazzo Pitti, Florence)
displays a new simplicity of form and unity in composi-
tion that suggests contact with Fra BARTOLOMMEO and
Leonardo. Motifs from Leonardo’s cartoon Virgin and Child
with St. Anne (c. 1501; now lost) are reflected in a number
of Raphael’s Madonna compositions, particularly that of
the Carnigiani Holy Family (c. 1505; Prado, Madrid),
where the figures, placed in a pyramidal composition, re-
late to one another in a significant and harmonious fash-
ion. Leonardo’s MONA LISAintroduced a new portrait type
taken up in Raphael’s Maddalena Doni (c. 1507; Palazzo
Pitti, Florence), while Leonardo’s Adoration of the Magi
(1481; Uffizi, Florence) which incorporated over 40 fig-
ures circling in and out of a dark penumbra, was to influ-
ence many of Raphael’s works, including drawings for the
Disputà (1509; Vatican).
In 1508, possibly at the behest of fellow Umbrian BRA-
MANTE, Raphael went to Rome. Pope JULIUS IIhad com-
missioned a team of artists to redecorate part of the
Vatican palace, but by 1509 Raphael had been made solely
responsible for the designs of the Stanze, the new papal
apartments. The theme of the Stanza della Segnatura
(painted 1509–11) is human versus divine intellect. In
their harmonious repose and classical purity, the frescoes
in this room represent the zenith of High Renaissance
painting (see Plate XIII). Clarity and logic dominate the
designs, particularly in the Disputà, where the elevated
Host acts as both the vanishing point and the narrative
pivot linking earthly with heavenly realms. The Stanza
dell’ Eliodoro (1511–14), representing divine intervention
on behalf of the Church, was executed in a more theatri-
cal vein, befitting the drama of the potent political mes-
sage. The Stanza dell’ Incendio (1515–17) was mainly the
work of assistants, for by now Raphael was beleaguered by
commissions. He executed a number of works for the
wealthy banker, Agostino CHIGI, decorating his villa in
Trastevere (see FARNESINA, VILLA), with a classically in-
spired fresco cycle of Cupid and Psyche (c. 1518) and de-
signing his chapel in Sta. Maria del Popolo (c. 1513–16),RRaapphhaaeell 4 40055RaphaelAn engraving based on a self-portrait (c. 1508–11) of
the artist in his twenties.
Popperfoto