God the Father Blessing among the Angels by Raphael
Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness by Raphael
Portrait of Doña Isabel de Requesens y Enríquez de Cardona-Anglesola by Raphael
Angel Holding a Phylactery by Raphael

Where to See Raphael

35 museums worldwide

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About Raphael

Holy Roman Empire · 1483–1520 · Renaissance

Died on his birthday at thirty-seven, painted Michelangelo into The School of Athens without asking, and was the most famous artist in Europe before he was thirty.

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Raphael's works are held in 35 museums worldwide, including Museum of Fine Arts of Rennes, Vatican Museums, and Uffizi Gallery.

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🇦🇹 Austria

2 museums

🇩🇰 Denmark

1 museum

🇫🇷 France

4 museums

🇩🇪 Germany

3 museums

🇭🇺 Hungary

1 museum

🇮🇪 Ireland

1 museum

🇮🇹 Italy

6 museums

🇷🇺 Russia

1 museum

🇪🇸 Spain

2 museums

🇸🇪 Sweden

1 museum

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

8 museums

🇺🇸 United States

2 museums

🇻🇦 Vatican City

3 museums

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Where can I see Raphael's work?
    Raphael's drawings can be viewed in several museum collections. The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford holds his Four Standing Soldiers, Three Naked Men Picking Grapes, and Three Figures Playing Instruments. The British Museum in London possesses a Study of Three Standing Men, Hercules and the Centaur, A Back View of Michelangelo’s David, and a Study of Michelangelo’s Matthew. Other drawings are held at Windsor Castle, in the Royal Library, including Hercules and the Hydra and Study of Leonardo’s Leda and the Swan. The Musée Bonnat in Bayonne has Two Shepherds. A Battle of Nude Warriors with Captives is held in Oxford. Paintings by Nicolas Poussin are sometimes misattributed to Raphael; for example, The Arcadian Shepherds can be seen at Chatsworth, Derbyshire.
  • Where can I see Raphael paintings?
    Raphael's works can be seen at Museum of Fine Arts of Rennes, Vatican Museums, Uffizi Gallery, and 2 other museums worldwide.
  • What should I know about Raphael's prints?
    Raphael showed a keen interest in printmaking. He entrusted his drawings to gifted engravers of his age, including Marcantonio Raimondi, Agostino Veneziano, and Ugo da Carpi. Raphael supplied designs to sculptors, weavers, mosaic makers, and ceramicists. His inventions served as a constant source of inspiration for contemporary sculptors Andrea Contucci, Il Sansovino, and Jacopo Sansovino. Raphael engaged in intellectual exchange with architects of renown such as Giuliano da Sangallo, Donato Bramante, and Fra’ Giovanni Giocondo. A large body of Raphael’s drawings has survived and is now principally housed in public collections. His output and working methods suggest that the graphic corpus must have been even larger. Many of the drawings are the result of ceaseless experimentation on the part of the master, who would frequently sketch on both the recto and verso of a sheet. Even the least compositionally complex of pictures would undergo progressive iterations in which the artist tested the composition and studied the figures time and time again, passing from one medium to another.
  • Why are Raphael's works important today?
    For 300 years after his death, Raphael was considered by many to be the greatest painter of all time. By the mid-19th century, his reputation declined as artistic modernism changed ideas about art. Raphael's art had become closely linked with traditional values, and it suffered as those values were overturned. His contemporaries saw him as redefining art, as having exemplified a new idea of what art is. Their assessments of what made him innovative reveal their values and aspirations, indicative of the motives at work in Renaissance art generally. Some qualities are familiar, passed down by criticism and art-historical scholarship. Others have been ignored or suppressed by modern art historians. Even those who praised Raphael sometimes criticised his paintings for being "too studied". Northern artists painting everyday Roman life ignored Raphael and the antique style. Despite fluctuations in his reputation, Raphael's work remains important for understanding the development of Western art and the values of the Renaissance.
  • When did Raphael live?
    Raffaello Santi or Sanzio, known as Raphael, was born in Urbino in 1483. Raphael died in 1520 on his birthday.
  • What techniques or materials did Raphael use?
    Raphael's artistic process involved several steps and materials. He began by drawing figures from life, favouring red chalk. These drawings were then transferred, using a grid system, onto canvas or cardboard. The cardboard was laid over paper and pricked with a needle to create an outline. This outline was then pounced with charcoal onto a wall or panel. Brushstrokes fixed the drawing, adding precision and corrections. Raphael himself generally applied the final, important touches, sometimes modifying the original composition. For frescoes, the mason would spread mortar early in the morning, following Raphael's instructions from the previous evening. The pounced drawings were transferred onto the fresh mortar using an iron pin. Raphael would then begin painting, starting with the highlights. Colours were kept in small pots. He aimed to paint all parts of a figure or group of the same 'value' in one sitting, to avoid tonal breaks. He worked in oil on wood panels, such as for *The Cardinal* (1510-1511) and *Portrait of Tommaso ‘Fedra’ Inghirami* (c. 1510).
  • Who did Raphael influence?
    Raphael's work impacted many artists, and his style was emulated for centuries after his death. Annibale Carracci showed interest in Raphael. Furthermore, Carlo Maratti was influenced by Raphael, according to Bellori. During his time in Florence, Raphael was himself influenced by both Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. He appears to have had access to Michelangelo's drawings and works in progress. Raphael incorporated elements of Michelangelo's work into his own; for example, the Child in the Bridgewater Madonna derives from the Child in Michelangelo's Taddei Tondo. The kneeling woman in the Baglione Entombment, who supports the fainting Virgin Mary, is a response to Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo. The figures carrying Christ's body also seem to depend on studies Raphael made of Michelangelo’s unfinished London Entombment.
  • Who influenced Raphael?
    Raphael's early style was influenced by his father, Giovanni Santi, a painter for the Duke of Urbino. Giorgio Vasari claimed Raphael was apprenticed to Perugino; Raphael's early works do show Perugino's influence. Other influences include artists such as Luca Signorelli and Pintoricchio. He also seems conversant with classical models, gaining knowledge from drawings after the Antique. Later, while in Florence, Raphael was drawn to Leonardo da Vinci, aligning himself with the master's focus on beauty. However, while in Rome, Raphael felt the impact of Michelangelo, even trying to emulate his style. According to Vasari, Raphael studied both ancient and modern masters, selecting the best qualities from their works. He also exchanged ideas with architects such as Giuliano da Sangallo, Donato Bramante, and Fra’ Giovanni Giocondo. His work, in turn, provided inspiration to contemporary sculptors such as Andrea Contucci and Jacopo Sansovino.

Sources

Where to See guide aggregates verified holdings of Raphael's works across the following collections.

  1. [1] museum Royal Castle in Warsaw Used for: museum holdings.
  2. [2] museum Musea Brugge Used for: museum holdings.
  3. [3] museum Liechtenstein Museum Used for: museum holdings.
  4. [4] museum Department of Prints and Drawings of the Louvre Used for: museum holdings.
  5. [5] book Susie Hodge, Art Used for: stylistic analysis.
  6. [6] book Susie Hodge, Art: Everything You Need to Know About the Greatest Artists and Their Work Used for: biography, stylistic analysis.
  7. [7] book Beard, Lee, 1973- author, Butler, Adam, author; Van Cleave, Claire, author; Fortenberry, Diane, author; Stirling, Susan, author, Beard, Lee, 1973- author, Butler, Adam, author; Van Cleave, Claire, author; Fortenberry, Diane, author; Stirling, Susan, author - The Art Book_ New Edition, Mini Format Used for: stylistic analysis.
  8. [8] book Raffaello Sanzio, Delphi Complete Works of Raphael (Illustrated) (Masters of Art Book 13) Used for: biography, stylistic analysis.
  9. [9] book Müntz, Eugène; , Raphael - Volume 2 Used for: stylistic analysis.

Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-05-30. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.

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