Raphael

Craving pleasure as well as knowledge, Raphael Sanzio was quick to realize that his talent would only be truly appreciated in the liberal, carefree and extravagantly sensual atmosphere of Rome during its golden age under Julius II and Leo X. Arriving in the city in 1508 at the age of twenty-five, he was entranced and seduced by life at the papal court and within a few months had emerged as the most brilliant star in its intellectual firmament. His art achieved a natural grace that was totally uninhibited and free from subjection. His death, at just thirty-seven, plunged the city into the kind of despair that follows the passing of an esteemed and much loved prince. In this major new biography Antonio Forcellino retraces the meteoric arc of Raphael’s career by re-examining contemporary documents and accounts and interpreting the artist’s works with the eye of an expert art restorer. Raphael’s paintings are vividly described and placed in their historical context. Forcellino analyses Raphael’s techniques for producing the large frescos for which he is so famous, examines his working practices and his organization of what was a new kind of artistic workshop, and shows how his female portraits expressed and conveyed a new attitude to women. This rich and nuanced account casts aside the misconceptions passed on by those critics who persistently tried to undermine Raphael’s mythical status, enabling one of the greatest artists of all time to re-emerge fully as both man and artist.

Review

"A brilliant and lyrical biography .

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. The masterful quality of Forcellino’s account lies not only in the beauty of its language, translated impeccably from Italian into English, but in the seamlessness and self-assurance with which he himself works across northern Italy, its paintings, its politics."The Spectator"An excellent introduction to the workshop of the Renaissance artist, and to the careful and patient techniques employed in the making of timeless art works … Forcellino has done a very creditable service in his re-examination of the life of an artist who, more than any other, embodied the spirit of the Italian Renaissance."Irish Examiner"Antonio Forcellino has now celebrated Raphael's life and career by writing this ebullient book, elegantly translated by Lucinda Byatt .

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. [Forcellino] is ingenious and fastidious in describing Raphael's works, and his book will give pleasure to those coming to them for the first time; it even highlights a few things connoisseurs may have missed."Literary Review"Written in a lively and entertaining style, ForcellinoÉ demonstrates his skills as a passionate and consummate storyteller revealing the life of a challenging and unique artist who introduced a new conception of Renaissance art combining sublimity and sensuality, within an Italian epoch of violence, wealth and eroticism."European Journal of History"A detailed biography that explains Raphael's achievements during his short life, while also showing how his social skills and affable temperament helped him to advance his career … This informative book is also a rich treasury of information about the artistic developments and techniques of the period."Historical Novel Society"Forcellino seeks to liberate his subject from later cultural and art-historical associations. Challenging post-Romantic conventions of the solitary genius, he presents Raphael as fully engaged with his society: a man whose eroticism and talent for friendship flowed naturally into his art .

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. Forcellino's Raphael is a lover, not a fighter."The Art Newspaper"Written in his usual lively style, Forcellino's new book combines fast-moving narrative, a vivid portrait of Raphael the man, and a perceptive analysi