The Italian high Renaissance was marked by paintings expressing human grandeur and very humanistic values. No one better portrayed the Italian high Renaissance then Raphael Sanzio, with his painting's clarity and ease of composition, Raphael was easily one of the greatest painters of this period.

Born in an artistically influenced town in Italy called Urbino, Raffaello Sanzio was first taught by his father, Giovanni Santi, how to compose works of art at a very early age. At the age of fourteen, Raphael's father realized his son's potential and sent him to a very talented teacher by the name of Pietro Perugino. Pietro Perugino lived from 1478 to 1520, and had a strong influence on Raphael's early artworks. Perugino was a Umbrian painter who loved to incorporate beautiful landscapes into

his paintings. Raphael's early works resembled Perugino's so much that paintings such as the Crucifixion with the Virgin, Saint John, Saint Jerome, and Saint Mary Magdalene were thought to be Raphael's until the church of San Gimingniano proved that

When Raphael arrived at the Vatican palace, Michelangelo was busy painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Raphael started the stanze walls around 1508 and didn't finish until 1511. Raphael had painted the walls to celebrate the four aspects of human accomplishment: theology, philosophy, arts, and law. To represent theology, was the "Disputation of the Sacrament". To represent philosophy was the famous "School of Athens", in which Raphael paints Michelangelo and himself in amongst the philosophers. To represent the arts was "Parnassus" and finally to represent law was "Cardinal Virtues". When fused together, these four aspects marked the transition from the middle ages to modern times.

Throughout Raphael's artistic career, he went back to painting's portraying the Madonna and child many times. "The Alba Madonna", was one of Raphael's most famous Madonnas because it was so different from traditional Roman art. The Madonnas of this time were usually shown sitting on a throne, but Raphael painted her in the middle of a field which I think added a realism without getting rid of her holy image. Raphael also painted the Alba Madonna in a classic symmetrical triangle, which was a popular painting technique of that time. Raphael's painted more then forty Madonnas before his death in 1520.

After suffering in bed for fifteen days, Raphael Sanzio died on his birthday at the young age of 37. Raphael seemed to blend harmony and balance perfectly into his paintings. Two of Raphael's most famous artwork

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