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RAPHAEL SANZIO D’URBINO:
Born 1483; died 1520.
We have spoken at length of two among the great
men who influenced the progress of art in the be-
ginning of the sixteenth century—Lionardo da
Vinci and Michael Angelo. The third and great-
est name was that of Raphael.
In speaking of this wonderful man we shall be
more diffuse and enter more into detail than usual.
How can we treat in a small compass of him whose
fame has filled the universe? In the history of
Italian art he stands alone, like Shakspere in the
history of our literature; and he takes the same
kind of rank, a superiority not merely of degree,
but of quality. Everybody has heard of Raphael,
everyone has attached some associations of excel-
lence and beauty, more or less defined, to that
familiar name: but it is necessary to have studied
profoundly the history of art, and to have an inti-
mate acquaintance with the productions of con-
temporary and succeeding artists, to form any just
idea of the wide and lasting influence exercised by
this harmonious and powerful genius. His works
have been an inexhaustible storehouse of ideas to
painters and to poets. Everywhere in art we find
RAPHAEL SANZIO D’URBINO:
Born 1483; died 1520.
We have spoken at length of two among the great
men who influenced the progress of art in the be-
ginning of the sixteenth century—Lionardo da
Vinci and Michael Angelo. The third and great-
est name was that of Raphael.
In speaking of this wonderful man we shall be
more diffuse and enter more into detail than usual.
How can we treat in a small compass of him whose
fame has filled the universe? In the history of
Italian art he stands alone, like Shakspere in the
history of our literature; and he takes the same
kind of rank, a superiority not merely of degree,
but of quality. Everybody has heard of Raphael,
everyone has attached some associations of excel-
lence and beauty, more or less defined, to that
familiar name: but it is necessary to have studied
profoundly the history of art, and to have an inti-
mate acquaintance with the productions of con-
temporary and succeeding artists, to form any just
idea of the wide and lasting influence exercised by
this harmonious and powerful genius. His works
have been an inexhaustible storehouse of ideas to
painters and to poets. Everywhere in art we find