At the time, Raphael was recognised as one of the most important artists in the whole Renaissance. Here’s his starting point, set by Giorgione, Perugino and others.
Perugino
It’s sometimes hard to read a painting without understanding an inscription. Masaccio, Rossetti, Moreau, Corinth and Botticelli gives us some clues.
His pupils, and the pupils of those artists, included Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Perugino, Ghirlandaio, and di Credi.
From 1450-1650, paintings of ‘Christian sibyls’ who foretold the birth of Christ, became important motifs for painting. Here’s a selection.
A successful general and much-loved statesman, he was responsible for building the Parthenon and Acropolis. Yet he gave his wife to another man, and lived with a courtesan who ran a brothel.
The life of a virtuous Roman statesman and general, with superb paintings by Poussin, Turner, and others.
The Eclectic Light Company 