Raphael Sanzio

Raphael, whose full name is Raffaello Santi or Raffaello Sanzio, was an Italian painter and architect during the High Renaissance. He was one of the three Renaissance masters along with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. He was born in Urbino, Marche, the son of Giovanni Santi, court painter to the Duke of Urbino. His paintings have clear compositions, clear shapes and overall balance. For hundreds of years, people have regarded him as the most outstanding painter of the High Renaissance, and the European academic painting tradition also regarded him as a classical model. It was not until the mid-19th century that this status began to shake.