Raphael Biography: The Late Years

After he had earned a name for himself in Florence, he was summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II to work on the Pope’s new private library. In it, he painted four frescoes depicting different themes, including The School of Athens. The Pope was so impressed by his work that he fired several other artists, including Raphael’s former master Perugino, so that Raphael could paint the rooms he had assigned them to. Raphael and his workshop worked on these rooms until right after the death of Raphael in 1520, completing the walls and ceilings of four rooms in total. Meanwhile, Raphael had no shortage of work. He did portraits of both of the Popes he worked under and of the humanist writer Baldassare Castiglione, worked on projects in villas and chapels of smaller churches, created many altarpieces including his Transfiguration, which was not yet finished when he died, and created a set of ten tapestries referred to as the Raphael Cartoons, of which only seven remain, for the Vatican.

Luckily, Raphael did not have to do all the work on his own. Due to his great talent and fame, he had assembled a workshop with over 50 students to help him, a number far larger than the norm. Among these were masters and novices alike, but of them only several names have survived. Raphael died unmarried at the age of 37 on April 6, 1520. Although he had never married, he was apparently very popular with women. He became engaged in 1514 to the niece of Cardinal Medici Bibbiena, but Raphael did not seem interested, as he never went through with the actual marriage. One rumor as to the cause of his death, suggested by Vasari, is that the night before he died he had had a great deal of sex with his mistress, Margherita Luti. He then fell ill from his exhausting night and was not given the right treatment by the doctors, too embarrassed to admit the actual cause of his weariness. Others suggest that he was simply overworked, or that the materials he worked with may have contained mercury and lead. Whatever the cause, it is a tragedy that such a master died at so young an age. Who knows what he may have accomplished had he lived as long as Leonardo or Michelangelo. His funeral was held at the Vatican and attended by thousands. He received honors usually reserved for Princes and Popes as he lay before his unfinished Transfiguration.

Learn more about:

The School of Athens

Transfiguration

Raphael's Cartoons