Raffaello Santi (full name Raffaello Sanzio da Urbano, March 28, 1483 or April 6, 1520 – April 6, 1520), commonly known as Raphael, is a famous Italian painter and the youngest of the "Three Masters of the Renaissance". He represents the pinnacle that Renaissance artists can achieve in their pursuit of ideal beauty.
His temperament is calm and elegant, and he has created a large number of images of the Virgin Mary. His works fully reflect tranquility, harmony, symmetry, as well as the perfect and peaceful order.

At 3am on Good Friday in 1483, Raphael was born in Urbino, Italy. His father Giovanni Sansi (also translated as Giovanni Santi di Petro) was an unknown painter. After the birth of his only son, he named him Raphael and insisted on being personally raised by the child's mother (Margia di Batista di Nijira Siara). So, during his childhood, Raphael was influenced by his parents' family environment and developed good behavioral habits, without being influenced by the crude and barbaric ways of poor families.
After Raphael grew up, Giovanni discovered that he had a special love for painting and was quite talented in it, so he began teaching him how to draw. A few years later, Raphael, who was still young, became Giovanni's capable assistant in many of Urbino's creations. Later, Giovanni gradually realized that he was no longer able to impart more to his son, so he decided to have Raphael apprentice under Petro Perugino. There is also evidence that after Raphael's father passed away on August 1, 1494, he inherited his father's workshop and did not leave Urbino until 1499. In addition, there are also claims that after Giovanni's death, Raphael's uncle Chiara took Raphael by his side and took on the responsibility of raising him. In 1498, he went to Perugia and entered the painter Perugino's studio to learn painting.
On December 10, 1500, wool merchant Andrea Baronzi commissioned Raphael and Evangelista da Pian di Meletto (also translated as Ivan Grista Pian Meletti) to create the "Coronation of Saint Nicholas of Torrentino" screen. At this time, Raphael's signature was already "Master" and his name ranked before his colleagues. On September 13, 1501, the work was completed and remuneration was received.

When Raphael learned Perugino's painting style, he imitated every detail exceptionally realistically, to the point where his portraits were identical to his teacher's handwriting, making it difficult to distinguish between true and false. In a wooden painting for Madame Mandarina Degri Audi at the San Francisco Church in Perugia, he painted many figures with oil paint to depict the scene of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Jesus crowned the Virgin Mary in the air, and the twelve disciples around the tomb were gazing at the radiance of the church. This work is extremely finely crafted, and anyone who is not proficient in painting style would mistake it for Perugino's handwriting.
In 1502, commissioned by the abbot of the Monduj Monastery in Perugia, he created the Coronation of the Virgin Mary, which was completed by 1503.
Due to Perugino's return to Florence, Rafael left Perugia and went to Castro City with some friends. He painted a wooden panel painting in that style for the Church of San Agostino here, and a crucifixion of Jesus at the Church of San Dominica. If these paintings were not signed with Raphael's name, they would be considered works of Perugino. In 1504, at the San Francisco Church in this city, he also painted a painting called "The Wedding of the Virgin Mary", which showed that Raphael had perfected his techniques and surpassed Perugino's style.
When Raphael gained great reputation for imitating his master's style, Pope Pius II entrusted the decoration work of the scripture collection building in Siena Cathedral to Pinturicho. Pinturicho brought Raphael to Siena, where Raphael drew some sketches for the project. However, because Raphael heard many Sienese painters praising Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo's paintings in Florence, he went to Florence before the project was completed.

After arriving in Florence in 1504 [9], Raphael established friendships with young painters such as Ridolfo Girandayo and Aristotle da San Garo, especially Tadeo Tadei who often invited Raphael to his home for meals. In order to repay him, Raphael painted two paintings for him, which presented a transitional style between the early Perugino technique and another technique he later learned Raphael was also very close to Lorenzo Naci, and because Lorenzo had recently married a wife, Raphael painted a painting of the Virgin Mary and Child for him.
After returning to Perugia, Raphael painted a painting titled "Our Lady and Child, St. John the Baptist, and St. Nicholas of Barry" (also known as "Our Lady") for the Ansidei Chapel of the Our Lady of Mary in 1505. He then painted a mural for the Our Lady Chapel in Saint Severo and a small monastery in the Carmaldoli Order, with Christ bathed in a halo and angels surrounding him, Six saints sat on either side. On this mural, he signed his name in huge font. Later, the nuns of San Antonio da Padua in the city hired him to paint a portrait of the Virgin Mary and Christ dressed in clothes, and he completed the painting according to their request.
Before Raphael left Perugia, Mrs. Atalanta Ballioni begged him to paint a wooden panel in the chapel of the Church of San Francisco. Due to the inability to fulfill her wish at the time, he promised to fulfill this wish after handling Florence's affairs and returning.

During his stay in Florence, he devoted countless efforts to studying painting and also designed sketches for the painting in the chapel. Raphael studied Masaccio's early paintings in Florence and witnessed the works of Leonardo and Michelangelo, which prompted him to study even more diligently. And at that time, Raphael was very close to Fra Bartolomio of the St. Mark's Monastery, and his coloring skills fascinated Raphael, so he decided to follow suit. As a reward, he taught him the perspective technique that was once overlooked by this senior [12].
However, just as their relationship grew stronger, Raphael was called back to Perugia, where he used sketches already designed in Florence to start drawing orders commissioned by Atalanta Balioni. This painting depicts the scene of Christ being buried, and during the production, Raphael imagined the sorrowful emotions that people would express when carrying their beloved loved ones to be buried. After completing this work, Raphael returned to Florence and was commissioned by the citizen Dei to paint an altar painting for them in the chapel of the Holy Spirit Church. So he started working, and the sketch progressed quickly. At the same time, he also drew a picture and sent it to Siena.
On April 21, 1508, Raphael wrote a letter from Florence to his uncle in Urbino, asking him to find a way to help him obtain a recommendation letter: for the decoration of one of the meeting rooms in the Florence City Square project, he wanted to bid (but there was no further discussion on this matter) [14]. Due to Bramante's service to Pope Julius II and the slight connection and camaraderie between the two, he wrote a letter to inform Raphael that he had convinced the Pope to build additional rooms for the Papal Palace, and that Raphael might have the opportunity to show his skills there. So Raphael abandoned his work in Florence and the unfinished order from De Yi (although the painting was almost completed) and went to Rome. On the occasion of leaving Florence, he entrusted his work to Ridolfo del Girandayo and asked him to complete some of the blue decorations in the picture.

After arriving in Rome, Raphael found that the vast majority of these rooms had already been painted with patterns, such as a painting by Pietro de la Francesca, a wall completed by Luca da Cotona, and the monk Don Pietro de la Gatta of the Saint Clement Church in Arezzo had already started working. Milanese Bramantino also painted several paintings, most of which were portraits. Raphael was warmly welcomed by Pope Julius II, and his first painting in the "signature hall" of the Vatican Palace was "The Battle of Sacraments" [13]. Raphael first completed the composition of the four walls, followed by the zenith section, but he first drew the personified images of the four goddesses at the zenith.
On January 13, 1509, the Pope's financial expenditure clearly included a payment account for Raphael. On October 4th, Raphael was awarded the honorary title of "Chief Painter" in the church.
During the decoration of the Second Council Hall, Michelangelo clashed with the Pope on the construction of the Sistine Chapel and fled to Florence. Bramante was in charge of the keys to the chapel, and due to his good relationship with Raphael, he was granted permission to enter and watch in order to learn Michelangelo's techniques.
On August 16, 1511, Pope Julius II set up an art studio in the palace and invited Raphael to paint portraits.
In a letter dated May 24, 1512, Queen Isabella of Mantua requested Raphael to draw a half length, armored statue of Federico Gonzago.
On January 11 and February 19, 1513, two letters were received from Vatican Ambassador Manteva requesting Raphael to paint a portrait. On February 21st, Julius II passed away, and Raphael had to temporarily stop working in the signing hall. Shortly after Leo X came to power, Raphael first completed the mural in the Eliodoro Hall. On July 7th, Raphael received his first commission from Protestant Emperor Leo X -50 ducats.

In March 1514, Raphael began decorating another room - the Borgo Fire Hall, which included four different scenes, and each painting featured the figure of Pope Leo X. This project began on the day of Bramante's passing, and Leo X organized a campaign to fill the vacancy in Bramante's charge. Finally, on April 1st, Raphael was temporarily appointed as the chief architect of St. Peter's Basilica with a salary of 300 ducats per year. As the official appointment letter for Butomant's successor architect, it was issued in the form of a papal pardon on July 1st. Due to a lack of practical experience as an architect, Raphael also received assistance from two experienced collaborators - Fra Giocondo from Verona and Giuliano da Sangaro from the Medici. In a very short period of time, they helped Raphael enhance his professional knowledge of architecture and asked him to look at classic architectural cases designed by Vitruvius [18].
On June 15, 1515, a draft of the hanging painting for the Sistine Chapel service was made. On August 27th, Raphael was appointed as the Protector of Roman Monuments, a position that required extensive knowledge of classical architecture, sculpture, and painting, accumulating a wealth of experience for his future interior decoration work. In letters to Isabella Tisdu on June 7th, Castilloni on November 8th, and Isabella's wife on November 30th, it was mentioned that they expected Raphael's "sketch" painting.
In a letter written to Siena on April 1, 1516, several works were mentioned, including the portrait of Badashare Castilloni.
A portrait of a noble woman was painted in 1517. In October, the mansion was purchased for 3000 gold coins.
In 1518, it was mentioned in a letter from January 22 to February 5 that the portrait of Lorenzo di Medici was completed. Several letters from March 1st to June 19th recorded the completion of works such as "Saint Michael and the Devil" and "The Holy Family". Purchased a vineyard in Rome on May 15th.
In 1519, he raised the issue of protecting Roman ruins and ancient urban map manuscripts to Leo X. Received one thousand gold coins paid by the Vatican Finance Bureau on May 7th. Complete seven manuscripts of hanging felt paintings for Sistine Chapel worship. At the same time, he painted the oil painting "La Flarina", as well as the palace wall mural "Love and the Three Beauties" and the oil painting "Manifestation of Christ" in Rome's Farnese.
In 1520, Raphael returned home with a high fever, but doctors only believed that he had suffered from a cold wind. Shortly after, he passed away on Good Friday, April 6th.

Raphael is a very passionate man who always indulges in femininity. Therefore, when his close friend Agostino Chiki asked him to paint the first porch of his private residence, Raphael ignored the job due to his infatuation with a mistress. With the help of his friends, Agostino went to great lengths to come up with a solution. He invited the lady to his home and settled her in Raphael's workshop, which allowed the painting to be completed.
Raphael has excellent social connections and knows how to respect people. It is said that as long as he stays in a certain place for five minutes, someone will come to ask for a painting, which Raphael rarely refuses. In addition, Raphael, like da Vinci and Michelangelo, had to serve Pope Julius II. But Raphael and Julius II had always had a good relationship, and later Leo X also liked Raphael very much. He specially gave him a red bishop's hat and betrothed Mary, a niece of the red bishop Bibi Yina, to him. Although Raphael was dissatisfied with this, he did not directly reject it. Instead, he persisted in the marriage until his unexpected death.