Famous Artworks by Raphael

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known simply as Raphael, was one of the most accomplished artists of the High Renaissance period in Italy.

The Disputation of the Most Holy Sacrament is a fresco corresponding to theology. Raphael created it between 1508 and 1511. The artwork depicts a scene that spans both Heaven and Earth. The Virgin Mary stands to the left of Christ with clasped hands. Below her, on the terrestrial plane, there is a person with the same look just near the table. Saint John the Baptist stands to the right of Christ with a hand outstretched. Below him is Julius II with his arm raised the same.

Expulsion of Heliodorus is a painting created between 1511 and 1512. It was part of the contract for Raphael to decorate the chambers of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. The artwork depicts a Biblical scene from 2 Maccabees (3:21-28). Seleucus IV Philopator, King of Syria, orders Heliodorus to take the wealth kept in the Temple in Jerusalem. In response to the high priest Onias III’s prayers, God sends a horseman aided by two youths to drive Heliodorus away. Raphael added a self-portrait at the far left of the painting.

The Marriage of the Virgin is also known as Lo Sposalizio. This is an oil painting completed in 1504 for the Franciscan Church of San Francesco. It depicts a marriage ceremony between Mary and Joseph. Raphael created this artwork when he was 21 and had finished his apprenticeship at the studio of Perugino and was heading for Florence.

The School of Athens is among the artist’s most famous paintings. Raphael created this artwork at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican between 1509 and 1511. Today it hangs in the North Wing of the Vatican Palace. This is one of four frescoes that he painted in that chamber, each symbolizing a different area of human knowledge: Justice, Philosophy, Poetry, and the School of Athens. In the painting, you see fifty individuals. The philosophers on the left symbolize the theories of Plato, while those on the right represent the theories of Aristotle.

The Sistine Madonna is an oil painting on canvas of the Virgin Mary with Jesus Christ. The painting was commissioned by Pope Julius II for the church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. It depicts the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. She is flanked by Saint Sixtus and Saint Barbara. Two angels can be seen at the bottom of the painting. This artwork was created for the Benedictine monks of San Sisto Monastery in Piacenza and placed near the altar. In 1754, the painting was given to King Augustus III of Saxony and, after WWII, sent to Moscow and later returned to Germany in 1955.

The Triumph of Galatea is a fresco that was painted at the Villa Farnesina in Rome about 1512. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses is the tale of Acis, a mortal peasant shepherd who falls in love with Galatea, a Nereid, or water nymph, in his Metamorphoses. Raphael didn’t depict the pivotal events of this story but focused on the later life of Galatea. She is depicted surrounded by marine creatures whose shapes were influenced by paintings created by Michelangelo. Ancient Roman art was the influence for the brilliant colors and ornamentation. A Triton (half man, part fish) kidnaps a sea nymph on the left, while another Triton uses a shell as a trumpet behind them. Galatea is drawn by two dolphins in a shell-chariot.

Transfiguration is the last artwork created by Raphael. It is considered a masterpiece of the Italian High Renaissance. It was created as an altarpiece for the Narbonne Cathedral in France. The painting illustrates how the life and teachings of Christ changed people. The artist created this artwork using the classic fresco method.