Architecture

Certainly an exceptional knowledge of architecture is a feature of Raphael's early paintings. When he came to paint the School of Athens in the Stanza della Segnatura, he responded to the power and magnificence of ancient Roman architecture as no painter before him had done.

By 1514, Raphael had achieved fame for his work at the Vatican and was able to hire a crew of assistants to help him finish painting frescoes in the Stanza dell'Incendio, freeing him up to focus on other projects. It was Bramante's death in April 1514 that turned Raphael into an architect, for Leo X promoted him to Bramante's office as architect of St Peter's, to work with Fra Giovanni Giocondo and the Sangallo family. It is likely that Raphael was profoundly involved in every aspect of the architect's work but it is clear that he depended on the assistance of expert draughtsmen with much more practical experience of building. In particular, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, the talented nephew of Giuliano da Sangallo, who succeeded Raphael at St Peter's, occupied a position that was in some respects comparable to those of Giulio Romano and Giovan Francesco Penni in Raphael's painting studio.

As chief architect of the pope, Raphael created the design for a chapel in Sant'Eligio degli Orefici. He also designed the Chigi Chapel in Rome's Santa Maria del Popolo and an area within Saint Peter's new basilica.

Raphael's architectural work was not limited to religious buildings. It also extended to designing palaces. Raphael's architecture honoured the classical sensibilities of his predecessor, Donato Bramante, and incorporated his use of ornamental details. Such details would come to define the architectural style of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.

Although every other major aspect of Raphael's genius was well known in previous centuries, his achievement as an architect has been reappreciated fully only in the 20th century.