Raphael Sanzio's Early Life

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             Both Michelangelo and Da Vinci"s styles influenced Raphael while he was in Florence. Raphael"s energetic paintings with softness and balance such as the "Small Cauper Madonna", were influenced directly from Michelangelo. While Raphael was in Florence, Duke Guidobaldo employed him to paint a painting for King Henry VII of England. In the painting "Saint George and the Dragon", Raphael portrays Saint George as a brave warrior fighting against a dragon right outside it"s lair. In contrast to the action of the painting, the background is peaceful and serene. In the story of Saint George, after the dragon is slain, the town all converts to Christianity, symbolizing the triumph of Christianity over all. Raphael stayed in Florence until he decided to go to Rome where he could branch out and away from his two competitors. .

             Once in Rome, Pope Julius II immediately commissioned Raphael because of his uncanny gift for painting sacred and secular paintings. Julius II had Raphael paint the rooms of the Vatican apartment, which brought life to the otherwise dull walls of the stanze. .

             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.

             (Taylor, 59).

             After he finished the frescos in the Vatican Palace, Raphael went on to fresco the Stanza d"Eliodoro between the years 1511 and 1514.

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