---
node: raphael
type: person
slug: raphael
title: "Raphael"
lead: "Raphael was an Italian painter and architect who, with Leonardo and Michelangelo, formed the trio of the High Renaissance."
published: 2026-07-11
updated: 2026-07-11
image_file: raphael.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Raffaello_Sanzio.jpg"
image_author: "Raphael"
image_license: "Public domain"
---

## Who they were

Raphael was an Italian painter and architect who, with Leonardo and Michelangelo, formed the trio of the High Renaissance.

## What they did

He was known for the harmony and grace of his Madonnas and for his Vatican frescoes, above all The School of Athens. He became a leading artist in papal Rome before his early death at 37.

## Legacy

His balanced, idealized style became a model of classical beauty for later academic art, and he is counted among the greatest painters of the Renaissance.