Raphael, Painter and Architect in Rome

Raphael arrived in Rome in 1508 and remained there until his death in 1520, working as painter and architect for popes Julius II and Leo X and for the most prestigious patrons. Here the artist changed his painting style several times, looking at the works of Michelangelo, Sebastiano del Piombo and the vast repertoire of ancient painting and sculpture. In the Eternal City Raphael practised architecture for the first time, designing buildings that reflected the models of Antiquity such as the Pantheon, the descriptions deriving from written sources such as Vitruvius' treaty on architecture, and the examples of modern architects like Donato Bramante.

This guide supplies essential and up to date information on all the civil or religious buildings designed or built by Raphael in Rome, and the frescoes and paintings, housed in churches or museums, whether executed in the city or arrived there at a later stage.

Francesco Benelli is associate professor of History of Architecture at the University of Bologna. His publications include The Architecture in Giotto's Paintings (Cambridge University Press, 2014).

Silvia Ginzburg is professor of Modern Art History at the University of Rome III. She has written on the Carraccis, Raphael, Vasari. She recently co-curated the exhibition Raphael and His Friends in Urbino (2019).