Raphael: The Art Gallery Series

by VincenzoFarinella (Author)

• Used

  Illustrated
  2004

  $3.20

  Raphael Sanzio da Urbino (1483-1520) was a genius of change, assimilation and curiosity. His perpetual urge to experiment led him to measure his work against every artistic style he encountered in his twenty years as an artist: in Umbria with his father Giovanni Santi, Pinturicchio and Perugino; in Florence with Leonardo da Vinci, Fra' Bartolomeo and Michelangelo; and finally in Rome with the painting of the Venetian masters and the masterpieces of classical art. In so doing, despite the apparent 'perfection' of his work and glorification by his patrons, he was always challenging his own results. The constant desire for new intellectual tests drew him into the scholarly world of the time, steeping his work in a new intellectual intensity and winning outstanding recognition in the most advanced humanist circles. This led to a special relationship for many years with Baldassar Castiglione and his last (unfinished) undertaking, the graphic reconstruction of classical Rome. This new image of Raphael comes mainly from the enthusiastic critical study of the past twenty years, following the fifth centenary of his birth in 1983 and campaigns to restore several of his works, such as the Vatican frescoes. Raphael no longer stands accused of 'Academism', and his wonderfully changeable figurative language is now fully appreciated.