Crowned the “Prince of Painters” by Giorgio Vasari, Raphael (1483–1520) was one of the most popular artists of the Italian Renaissance. Famous for his serene and harmonious series of Madonnas and his work at the Vatican Palace, he was an extremely influential painter, both during and after his own lifetime. Pope Julius II hired Raphael as his chief architect and his first commission charged him with the task of decorating the papal apartments at the Vatican in 1509. Now known as the Raphael Rooms, these astonishing displays continue to attract visitors from all over the world.

Raphael in Detail shows his beautiful masterpieces in unprecedented, large-format details. The art historian and specialist of the Italian Renaissance, Stefano Zuffi, takes the reader on a surprising voyage into Raphael’s life and work. The book is organized thematically and includes a biography and a list of works.

Italian art historian Stefano Zuffi specializes in the period from the Renaissance to the Baroque. He has over sixty publications to his credit, notably on Dürer, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Titian and Caravaggio. For Ludion, he has written about Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.

In art history, we tend to be on first-name terms only with the most revered of masters. The Renaissance painter and architect Raphael Santi (1483–1520) is one such star. The man we call simply Raphael has for centuries been hailed as a supreme Renaissance artist. For some, he even outstrips his equally famous, equally first-named, contemporaries, Leonardo and Michelangelo.

From 1500 to 1508, Raphael worked throughout central Italy, particularly in Florence where he secured his reputation as a painter of portraits and beautifully rendered Madonnas, archetypical icons within the Catholic faith. In 1508 he was summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II and later embarked on an ambitious mural scheme for the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican. Within this room, Raphael’s The School of Athens is considered a paradigm of the High Renaissance, merging Classical philosophy with perfected perspectival space, animated figures, and a composition of majestic balance.

This essential introduction explores how in just two decades of work, Raphael painted his way to legendary greatness. With highlights from his prolific output, it presents the mastery of figures and forms that secured his place not only in the trinity of Renaissance luminaries but also among the most esteemed artists of all time.

About the series:

Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art series features:

- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
- a concise biography
- approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

The spectacular beauty of Raphael’s tapestries as you have never seen it before

In 1515, Pope Leo X commissioned the Italian painter Raffaello Sanzio (1483–1520), now generally known as Raphael in English, to make the cartoons for a series of ten tapestries with scenes from the lives of Saints Peter and Paul. This commission played an instrumental part in the stylistic development of the Flemish tapestries, a marvellous illustration of princely splendour in the sixteenth century. Under Habsburg rule, Brussels soon emerged as a leading manufactory for exquisite products. Raphael’s designs are among the most successful series in the history of tapestry production.

This publication shows the enormous richness of the tapestries through dozens of details. It accompanies a collection exhibition of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, home to the former imperial tapestry collection, from 26 September 2023 to 14 January 2024.

About the Author:

Curator of the Kunstkammer and Tapestries, Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM) in Vienna (Wien), Austria.
 

Founded in 1848 as a secret society, the Pre-Raphaelites rejected classical ideals and the dominant artistic genre painting of their era for what they saw as a more spiritual, sincere, and naturalistic approach. Founded by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, they evolved into a seven-member “brotherhood” that included poets and critics as well as painters.

Moving away from the classical compositions exemplified by Raphael (hence the group’s name), the Pre-Raphaelites rather turned to medieval culture and the jewel-like colors of Quattrocento art for inspiration. Their principal themes were initially religious, but also included subjects from literature and poetry, as exemplified by Sir John Everett Millais’s famous Ophelia, drawn from Shakespeare's Hamlet. Inspired by the theories of John Ruskin, they were also committed to the close study of nature.

This book presents key works from the Pre-Raphaelite group to introduce their reactionary principles, their dazzling colors, their interest in love, death, and nature, and their extensive influence on latter-day Symbolism and beyond.

About the series:

Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art series features:

- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
- a concise biography
- approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

Painting the divine

Heavenly grace and human grandeur

Influenced by his contemporaries Michelangelo and Leonardo, Raphael Santi (1483-1520) became, in his own right, one of the most important artists of the High Renaissance. Though Raphael painted many important works in his Florence period, including his famous Madonnas, it was his mature work in Rome that cemented his place in history, most notably the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican featuring his School of Athens and Triumph of Religion murals.

This overview traces the life’s work of this Renaissance master who achieved the height of greatness in only two decades of creation and whose influential work paved the way for the Mannerist and Baroque movements.

About the Series:
Every book in TASCHEN's Basic Art Series features:

* a detailed chronological summary of the artist's life and work, covering the cultural and historical importance of the artist
* approximately 100 color illustrations with explanatory captions
* a concise biography

Now available in a lovely new gift edition, this stunning bouquet of romantic paintings brings together two important aspects of Victorian culture - the Pre-Raphaelite movement and the language of flowers - in one exquisite volume.

Few artistic movements capture classic notions of beauty as romantically as the Pre-Raphaelites - a group of 19th-century painters and poets who aimed to revive the purer art of the late medieval period. In this beautiful volume, Debra N. Mancoff, an expert on Pre-Raphaelite art and the floral lexicon, presents breathtaking examples, which illuminate the meaning of flowers in all aspects of Victorian culture. She offers brief commentaries on individual paintings as well as biographies of the period's leading artists and their models. A captivating introduction to an artistic movement, this exquisitely produced book is also a romantic keepsake of an artistic sensibility that speaks volumes.

The loggia, or colonnaded porch, on the second story of the Apostolic Palace is one of the Vatican’s most remarkable art treasures; its decoration, designed by Raphael (1483-1520) and executed by his workshop in 1517-19, epitomizes the spirit of the Italian Renaissance in its synthesis of Christian and classical themes. The thirteen square vaults of Raphael’s loggia each contain four frescoes of scenes from the Bible, from the Creation to the Last Supper. Meanwhile, the plasterwork of the other architectural elements is decorated with “grotesques” - fanciful arabesques enlivened with a wide variety of human and animal figures - modeled after ancient Roman wall paintings.

This groundbreaking study of Raphael’s loggia, the first to be published in English, has four parts. The first and second concern the grotesques and the scenes from the Bible, respectively, while the third examines the lives and artistic styles of the members of Raphael’s workshop who worked with him on the loggia. The fourth part traces the loggia’s enduring influence: the grotesque ornamental style elaborated by Raphael has been imitated as far afield as the corridors of the United States Capitol, and the Bible scenes served as influential models for popular prints. Illustrated throughout with newly commissioned color photographs, this book reaffirms the central importance of Raphael’s loggia to the history of art.

The most comprehensive survey to date of the drawings, watercolours, prints and designs of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, provides a fresh and intimate picture of the most popular and enduring group in the history of British art

The book is illustrated with the most important Pre-Raphaelite drawings from public and private collections around the UK, including striking works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, William Holman Hunt and Edward Burne-Jones that have never before been exhibited or reproduced.

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of radical young artists who banded together in London in 1848, revolutionized British art. This book explores the vital role played by drawing and design, in all its variety, in the work of the
Brotherhood and their associates.

Alongside studies for paintings of religious, literary and medieval subjects are the group’s portraits, self-portraits and caricatures, often exchanged as gifts; meticulous depictions of nature by John Ruskin and his followers; captivating drawings of the iconic Pre-Raphaelite models Lizzie Siddal and Jane Morris; and original designs for stained glass, textiles and ceramics.

Art historian Colin Cruise explores the emergence of the Brotherhood’s graphic style, their theories of naturalism, their radical promotion of new subjects, and their highly original use of watercolour as a drawing medium. He also demonstrates the impact that Pre-Raphaelite drawing had upon turn-of-the-century British art movements such as Aestheticism, Symbolism and Art Nouveau, and explores the role of drawing in the work of leading Arts and Crafts designers such as William Morris, William De Morgan and Florence Camm.

The book is lavishly illustrated with the most important Pre-Raphaelite drawings from public and private collections, including striking works by Rossetti, Millais, Holman Hunt and Burne-Jones that have never before been exhibited or reproduced.

Pre-Raphaelite Drawing explores the vital role played by drawing and design in the work of the Brotherhood and their associates. Alongside studies for paintings of religious, literary and medieval subjects are the group’s portraits, self-portraits and caricatures, often exchanged as gifts; meticulous depictions of nature by John Ruskin and his followers; captivating drawings of the iconic Pre-Raphaelite models Lizzie Siddal and Jane Morris; and designs for stained glass, textiles and ceramics.

The author explores the emergence of the Brotherhood’s graphic style, their theories of naturalism, their radical promotion of new subjects, and their highly original use of watercolour. He also demonstrates the impact that Pre-Raphaelite drawing had upon turn-of-the-century British art movements such as Aestheticism, Symbolism and Art Nouveau, and explores the role of drawing in the work of leading Arts and Crafts designers such as William Morris, William De Morgan and Florence Camm.

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets and critics, founded in 1848 by John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt. Their art’s romanticism, attention to detail and jewel-like colours have ensured their eternal popularity. This beautifully illustrated reference book is packed with exampes of work by the key proponent Millais, and that of his contemporaries, alongside illuminating information. Beginning with an overview of the movement it goes on to discuss the art in the context of society, place, influences, and styles and techniques. An ideal gift for art lovers or those new to the subject.

Virtually every Pre-Raphaelite painting is discussed in detail and illustrated here, including works by the best known - Holman Hunt, Rossetti and Millais - and the movement’s many minor talents.

143 illustrations

In Victorian England, with the country swept up in the Industrial Revolution, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, close to William Morris’ Arts and Crafts movement, yearned for a return to bygone values. Wishing to revive the pure and noble forms of the Italian Renaissance, the major painters of the circle such as John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones, in opposition to the academicism of the time, favoured realism and biblical themes over the affected canons of the nineteenth century. This work, with its captivating text and rich illustrations, describes with enthusiasm this singular movement which notably inspired the followers of Art Nouveau and Symbolism.

Книга о жизни и творчестве великого итальянского художника Высокого Возрождения Рафаэля Санти. Писал картины на религиозные и мифологические сюжеты, портреты и монументальные фрески, исполнял картоны для шпалер и декоративные росписи (в частности парадных комнат Ватиканского дворца). Руководил мастерской художников и граверов. Возглавлял ведение раскопок в Риме. Участвовал в строительстве собора Святого Петра. Основы профессиональных знаний он получил в мастерской своего отца в небольшом городке Урбино, затем учился в Перудже у Пьетро Перуджино. Его ранние работы отражают воздействие манеры Перуджино, но вместе с тем в них заметен отход от его художественных установок. Далее, переехав во Флоренцию, около 1502 г. Рафаэль создает свое первое самостоятельное крупное произведение «Распятие», в 1504 г. появляется его шедевр «Обручение Марии» и становится по стилю ближе к таким мастерам, как Леонардо да Винчи и Микеланджело. Не смотря на соседство с такими признанными мастерами, Рафаэлю удается получать заказы от флорентийцев, особой популярностью пользуются его мадонны. Но уже в 1508 году Рафаэль едет в Рим – по свидетельству Вазари, его пригласил Браманте, который в то время строил в Вечном городе собор Святого Петра по заказу папы Юлия II. Рафаэль получает задание расписывать комнаты (станцы) Ватиканского дворца. Над этими росписями Рафаэль работает с 1509 по 1517 год, в результате появляются такие шедевры, как «Парнас», «Диспута», «Афинская школа», «Месса в Больсене».