He studied under Pietro Perugino before attaching himself to Fra Bartolomeo in Florence and concentrating on religious subjects rendered in a graceful,restrained style. In 1508 he was summoned to Rome by Julius II to work on the decoration of the Vatican. During this period, the artist expanded his repertoire to include portraits and mythological subjects.

Raphael was born as the Italian Renaissance flourished and destined to join the ranks of the immortals being regarded, along with Michelangelo and Leonardo, as one of the three giants of Renaissance art.Born in Urbino in 1483 Raphael received his earliest training from his father Giovanni,a provincial court painter. He studied under Pietro Perugino before attaching himself to Fra Bartolomeo in Florence and concentrating on religious subjects rendered in a graceful,restrained style. In 1508 he was summoned to Rome by Julius II to work on the decoration of the Vatican. During this period, the artist expanded his repertoire to include portraits and mythological subjects. Although best known for his numerous Madonnas, Raphael also displayed genius as an architect and, after the death of Bramante in 1514, he superin-tended the building of the new cathedral of St. Peter's, which occupied him until his death in 1520.

Raphael, has long been regarded as one of the supreme draughtsmen of the Renaissance; he inherited a new approach to drawings that developed in Florence in the fifteenth century and which in his hands reaches a mastery that has never been surpassed. While the influence of Leonardo and Michelangelo is evident in his compositions, art historian Richard Cocke's incisive study reveals how Raphael developed his own unique style - clarity of form and ease of composition - that has retained a timeless,universal appeal.

INTRODUCTION

The Madonna of the Pinks

CHAPTER ONE: EARLY WORK

Public Commissions

Private Commissions

Public Commissions, The Ma,'riage of tke Virgin

CHAPTER TWO: RAPHAEL IN FLORENCE

The Impact of Leonardo and Michelangelo

Raphael as Draughtsman

First Florentine Commissions

Private Devotional Paintings

Later Public commissions

Madonna del Baldacchino and Entombment

Later Private Devotional Pictures

CHAPTER THREE: RAPHAEL IN ROME

The Stanza della Segnatura

The Ceiling

Wall Frescoes

CHAPTER FOUR: RAPHAEL IN ROME

IN THE SERVICE OF THE POPE

The Stanza d'Eliodovo

The Stanza dell'Incendio

The Sala di Costantino

The Tapestries for the Sistine Chapel and their Cartoons

The L0gge

CHAPTER FIVE: RAPHAEL IN ROME

PRIVATE COMMISSIONS

Altarpieces

Private Devotional Pictures

Portraiture

The Papal Banker, Agostino Chigi, Galatea

S. Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria dell Pace

Sala di Psiche, Villa Farnesina

The Papal Family

The Villa Madama

Palace Designs

POSTSCRIPT

ILLUSTRATIONS

OUTSTANDING DATES IN RAPHAELS

LIFE AND CAREER

FURTHER READING

INDEX

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS