RAPHAEL

born April 6, 1483, Urbino, Duchy of Urbino died April 6, 1520, Rome, Papal States The Grand-Duke's Madonna, oil painting by Raphael, 1505; in the Pitti Palace, Florence Italian in full Raffaello Sanzio master painter and architect of the Italian High Renaissance. Raphael is best known for his Madonnas (see photograph) and for his large figure compositions in the Vatican in Rome. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur. in the Bible and the Qur'an, one of the archangels. In the Old Testament apocryphal Book of Tobit, he is the one who, in human disguise and under the name of Azarias (Yahweh helps), accompanied Tobias in his adventurous journey and conquered the demon Asmodeus. He is said (Tobit 12:15) to be one of the seven holy angels [archangels] who present the prayers of the saints and enter into the presence of the glory of the Holy One. In the pseudepigraphal Book of Enoch, Raphael is the angel of the spirits of men, and it is his business to heal the earth which the angels [i.e., the fallen angels] have defiled. The archangels are referred to as numbering seven (e.g., Revelation 8:2 and Tobit 7:15), and are listed in Enoch 1:20 as Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sariel, Gabriel, and Remiel. Raphael is reckoned among the saints in both Eastern and Western churches, his feast day being October 24. Additional reading Monographs focusing on the artist's life include Johann David Passavant, Raphael of Urbino and His Father Giovanni Santi (1872, reprinted 1978); J.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, Raphael: His Life and Works, 2 vol. (188285, reprinted 1972); James Beck, Raphael (1976), recounting the development of his early career; and Roger Jones and Nicholas Penny, Raphael (1983), which includes a treatment of his architecture. Texts that discuss his work in detail include Oskar Fischel, Raphael, 2 vol. (1948; reissued in 1 vol., 1964); Pierluigi de Vecchi, The Complete Paintings of Raphael (1966, reissued 1987), containing a general catalog of the artist's works; The Complete Work of Raphael (1969, reprinted 1978), with 7 essays on all his artistic output and over 900 reproductions; John Pope-Hennessy, Raphael (1970); Luitpold Dussler, Raphael: A Critical Catalogue of His Pictures, Wall-Paintings, and Tapestries (1971); Paul Joannides, The Drawings of Raphael: With a Complete Catalogue (1983), containing over 400 reproductions; James Beck (ed.), Raphael Before Rome (1986), scholarly symposium papers on his early career; and Francis Ames-Lewis, The Draftsman Raphael (1986).