RAPHAEL. 



or New Teftamcnt ; but 1.1- luftory occurs in the book of 



Tobit, c. xii. . . , , , , 



If the ftory of Toljit b^" true, it is not improbable that 

 the angels, both good and bad, vvliofe names do nut appear 

 to have been known before the Babylonifli captivity, are 

 figurative perfonages ; and Raphael might only denote the 

 falutary protefting agency of divine providence, fo difpofing 

 events as to produce a happy iflue. 



Raphael Saszio, da Ukbino, in Biography, during 

 whofe life, and by the exertion of whofe talents, in con- 

 junftion with thofe of Lionardo da Vinci, Titian, Michael 

 Angelo, and fome few others, the art of painting reached 

 its acme in modern times, was born in the city of Urbino, 

 on the morning of Good Friday, in the year 1483. He 

 was defcendcd "from a refpedlable family, and many of his 

 anceitors had been painters ; as was his father Giovanni 

 Sanzio, whofe talents, however, did not elevate him to the 

 firll rank. He cultivated with care tlie inclination which 

 his fon Raphael exhibited, at an early age, for painting; 

 and was foon repaid by the afliftance he acquired from him, 

 in feveral of the piftures he was employed to paint in his 

 native city of Urbino. But finding that the tafte of Ra- 

 phael merited more (Ivilful guidance than he was able to 

 give it, he placed him under the tuition of Corradini, better 

 known by the name of Carnevale, for a ihort time, till he 

 could be received as a pupil by Pietro Pcrugino, at Pe- 

 rugia. 



This mailer was then in very high efteem, though his 

 ftyle was dry and meagre, in comparifon with that of Ma- 

 faccio, and others of the Florentine fchool. It is not fur- 

 priiing that Raphael, endowed as he was by nature, and 

 trained as he had been in art, fhould foon become the rival, 

 rather than the pupil, of fuch an artift. Accordingly we 

 find, that his aptitude for the praftice of art enabled him 

 quickly to acquire his mailer's manner, and that in fo per- 

 feft a degree, that connoiffeurs were puzzled in their judg- 

 ments upon the works which proceeded from Perugino's 

 fludio ; and ordinary obfervers completely deceived. Vafari 

 fpcaks of an Ad'umption of the Virgin, crowned by her 

 Son, and the twelve apoftles below, round licr tomb, con- 

 templating the celcllial glories'; with three fmall piftures 

 in the fame frame below it, of the Annunciation, the 

 Adoration of the Magi, and Simon embracing the Saviour, 

 painted at this period by Raphael, as being wrought with 

 extreme beauty, and precifely like the work of Peru- 

 gino. 



We have to lament that we are left ignorant of the time 

 when Raphael went as a pupil to Pietro, how long he re- 

 mained with him, or when he left him, or rather was left by 

 him ; as that mailer returned to Florence, to fini(h fome pic- 

 tures he had begun there fome time before. He mult cer- 

 tainly have been very young, from the number of piftures 

 whicli he lubfequently executed, previous to his going to 

 Rome in his 25th year, and probably not more than 16 or 

 17, when he acquired his liberty by the departure of Peru- 

 gino. 



From Perugia he went to Citta di Caftello, where he 

 painted a St. Nicola crowned by the Virgin and St. Auguf- 

 tin, for the church of St. Auguftine ; and for that of St. 

 Dominico, a pidlure of the Crucifixion of Chriil, accom- 

 panied by angels, the Virgin, St. Joiin, &c. ; which would 

 certainly have been coniidered as Perugino's, if Raphael iiad 

 not fet his name to them. But he was confvdered to have 

 much furpalled him in another work, reprefenting the mar- 

 riage of the Virgin and St. Francifco, for the church of St. 

 Francifco, in the fame city. He acquired by thefe pro- 

 duftions a great and deferved extent of fanv,', and thus early 



entered with fuccefs that courfe, which condu&cd liim tu 

 the higlicll pinnacle of renown as an artill. 



Attached to his perfon by friendlhip, and attrafted by 

 his flcill as a defigner, Pinturitcio, then employed by pope- 

 Pius n. to adorn the library of the Duomo at Sienna, 

 fought the aflillance of Raphael, and engaged him to com- 

 pofe defigns for his work. This he undertook, but pro- 

 ceeded only to the preparation of fome of the cartoons, 

 when his ambition and his curiofity were ilimulated, and 

 his work interrupted, by the renown fpread through the 

 country of the cartoons painted by thofe great rivals, Lio- 

 nardo da Vinci and M. Angelo, for the council-hall at Flo- 

 rence. He immediately determined, in conjunftion with 

 almoft all his brother artills of the day, upon going to fee 

 and form his judgment upon them for himfelf ; and cenfe- 

 quently left his engagement with Pinturiccio, and pro- 

 ceeded to Florence. 



In this city he found fo many attraftivc beauties, both of 

 nature and art, that he refolved to fix his refidence there for 

 fome time. His agreeable perfon and manners, combined* 

 with the extraordinary talents he had manifelted, infured 

 him friends ; and he became intimate with feveral artifls of 

 celebrity, among whom were Ghirtandaio, St. Gallo, and 

 Taddeo Taddi ; the latter of them, a learned man, and friend 

 of cardinal Bembo, took the youthful painter to his ho^ife 

 and table, and thus afforded him the bed introduction to the 

 world, while he purfued his more immediate fludies. This 

 kindnefs the gentle heart of Raphael accepted with grateful 

 emotion ; and as he painted feveral pictures during his refi- " 

 dence in that city, he prefented two of them to Taddi. One 

 of thefe pi&ures, a Madonna with the Child, and St. John 

 bringing a little bird to him, the heirs of Taddi fold to the 

 archduke Ferdinand Charles of Aullria at a great price : 

 the other is loll fight of. He alfo prefented a picture to 

 his friend Lorenzo Nafi, which afterwards found a place iu 

 the Medicean gallery, and a duplicate in that of the monaf- 

 tery of Valombrofa. 



From Florence Raphael was recalled to Urbino, by the 

 death of both his father and mother ; and there, when he 

 had arranged his private affairs, he was engaged by Giudo- 

 baldo de Montefeltro, and feveral others, to paint religious 

 fubjefts for the altars of their chapels : and among thofe he 

 painted at this time, were the two little St. Georges, now 

 in the gallery of the Louvre. Thefe commifiions he exe- 

 cuted with great tafle and dehcacy ; and Vafari, who enu- 

 merates them, more particularly fpeaks of one of Chriil 

 praying in the garden, painted for Franccfco Maria, duke 

 of Urbino, as being finifhed with all the neatnefs of a minia- 

 ture. What is become of moll of thefe pictures, it is not 

 eafy to afcertain ; but it is a curious fact, that not one of 

 them remains at this time to adorn the native city of this 

 great artift. 



Thence he returned to Perugia, and painted feveral pic- 

 tures. For the church of the Frati de Servi, one of the 

 Virgin, , with St. John Baptift, and St. Nicholas. For 

 that of St. Stevens, in tlie chapel of our Lady, he painted 

 in frefco a picture of Chriil in gloq-, with God the Father, 

 furrounded by angels and fix faints, three on each fide. 

 Upon this pifture he wrote his name in large letters of gold, 

 and very confpicuoufly, as if he himfelf was plcafed witii 

 the performance of it. He alfo painted here a picture for 

 the nuns of St. Antonio da Padua, of our Lady with the 

 Infant upon her lap clothed, and near her St. Peter, St. 

 Paul, Sta. Ceciha, and Sta. Catherina. The airs and at- 

 tire of the two female heads were regarded as the mod talle- 

 ful work of the time, wrought with the greatell degree of 

 beauty and grace. Above the picture, in a femicircle, was 



reprefented 



