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Raphael

1483–1520 · Italian Renaissance, High Renaissance

Raphael, born in Urbino in 1483 and dead in Rome in 1520, is one of the defining painters of the High Renaissance. His pictures are known for calm balance, clear space and idealised figures. This gallery follows his career from early altarpieces and Madonnas to papal portraits and late large-scale works.

Life and work

Raphael was born in Urbino in 1483 and died in Rome in 1520. He is counted among the central figures of the Italian Renaissance and, with a small number of contemporaries, defines what art historians call the High Renaissance: a moment when balance, clarity and idealised human form became the measure of painting. The fact sheet lists his nationality as both Holy Roman Empire and Italy, a reminder that modern national labels fit the period awkwardly.

The works in this gallery trace a short but remarkably productive career. The Marriage of the Virgin (1504) shows a young painter already in command of ordered, symmetrical space. Around 1505 to 1507 he produced a run of Madonnas and devotional pictures, including the Madonna del Prato, the Ansidei Madonna and the Madonna of the Pinks. In them, calm triangular groupings and soft modelling give the figures a natural ease. The Deposition (1507) marks a move toward drama and movement.

From about 1512 the gallery reflects his years in Rome and his work for papal patrons: portraits of Pope Julius II and Leo X, the mythological Galatea, the Sistine Madonna, and designs such as The Miraculous Draught of Fishes. La Fornarina shows a more intimate side of his portraiture. The Transfiguration, dated to the year of his death, closes the sequence.

The early Madonnas at the National Gallery and the Kunsthistorisches Museum

The National Gallery holds three works from this gallery: the Ansidei Madonna, the Madonna of the Pinks and Saint Catherine of Alexandria. Seeing them together lets you compare a formal altarpiece, a small private devotional picture and a single graceful standing figure. In the Madonna del Prato at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, notice how the Virgin and the two children form a stable pyramid set in an open landscape. Look for gentle transitions of light and shadow, the exchange of glances between the figures, and the way the poses look natural rather than stiff.

Drama and narrative: the Borghese Deposition and the Prado Christ Falling

At the Galleria Borghese, The Deposition (1507) shows Raphael pushing beyond quiet devotion toward physical effort and emotion. Follow the strain in the bodies carrying Christ and the separate, grieving group around the fainting Virgin. At the Museo del Prado, Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary (1517) is a later, crowded processional scene. Notice how the composition draws your eye to Christ's face and to his mother reaching toward him. Comparing the two paintings shows how his storytelling grew more complex over the decade.

Where to see the paintings

Kunsthistorisches Museum
Madonna del Prato
National Gallery
Ansidei Madonna
Madonna of the Pinks
Saint Catherine of Alexandria
The Dream of a Knight
Galleria Borghese
The Deposition
Museo del Prado
Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Sistine Madonna
Uffizi Gallery
Madonna of the Goldfinch
National Gallery of Art
Alba Madonna
Louvre Museum
Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth and the infant St. John
Ceres

Works may be off view or on loan. See each painting’s page for museum details.

Sources