Raphael was an artist, a party animal, and Michelangelo’s competitor. He called Rome home and is still well remembered in the Eternal City, so we put together a list about the top 10 facts about the artist.
1. Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were all contemporaries and had met each other at one stage or another. Considering that DaVinci was an inventor, Michelangelo a sculptor and Raphael a painter means that Raphael does go down in history as the greatest painter of all time.
2. Raphael died at the young age of 37. Compare that to Da Vinci who died at 75 and Michelangelo who lived to be 89.
3. Raphael picked an interesting day to die. He died on the day of his birthday and on Good Friday. 6th of April 1520.
4. Raphael is buried in the Pantheon in Rome.
5. Raphael studied under the famous painter Perugino. There are a number of Perugino paintings on the side walls of the Sistine Chapel.
6. Raphael was origionally asked to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel but he refused and suggested Michelangelo. It is believed he suggested Michelangelo knowing Michelangelo was a sculptor, not a painter.
7. Raphael and Michelangelo worked in the Vatican at the exact same time as each other. They did not see eye to eye. They were great rivals and they both shared a great jealousy for one another.
8. Raphael was very social and a bit of a party animal. This was the opposite to Michelangelo who supposedly looked like a homeless person.
9. Raphael came from Urbino which is 144 miles from Rome.
10. Raphael died of syphillis. Raphael’s fiance died only 3 months after he did. He was engaged to her for 7 years always putting off marriage because he had a number of mistresses and he was also hoping Pope Leo X would make him a Cardinal.
To learn more about Raphael the artist, and more of Rome’s history, join us on a Rome City Tour and a Vatican museums and Sistine Chapel tour to see some of Rapheals most famous work.
