Among the important anniversaries that the Marche region hosts in 2020, there’s the celebration of the 500 years of Raphael’s death, famous painter born in Urbino, whose works are known and appreciated worldwide.
His native house is in the heart of this magnificent artistic city and it’s a fascinating place, that tells very well the personality and the importance of this character.
We want you to discover it in preview and we are sure it will not let you indifferent. Follow us!
Raphael Sanzio lived in a big stone house, in the center of Urbino and his real last name was Santi. His father John was a painter and a teacher of art and he taught young peolpe tricks and secrets of his job. It was a house-laboratory, where Raphael could express his talent starting from a very young age, led and assisted by a competent father.
The drawings and the chalk statues that describe him show a boy with sweet traits, almost feminine, his face framed by a cascade of locks and a dreamy expression in his eyes.
At that time, Raphael’s House was a very spacious and decorous building, where a lot of people moved. It was divided in many floors, with rooms that opened one into another; drewer walls, a livingroom with a chimney and a very well furnished kitchen, where the father John put a wooden strongbox, containing his big savings, because this was the safest place into the whole house given the constant presence of his servants.
Raphael
The room where Raphael was born in 1483 is recognizable from a painting with Virgin Mary and her Baby, one of his youth works.
Visiting these rooms, where the Santi family lived and worked, is definitely an exciting experience that allows you to find out the most curious aspects like, for example, the internal courtyard with a basin floor to preserve rain-water; the mortar used to break colours to paint; the genealogical tree of the family; the decorated ceramics and couples of famous paintings by Raphael, like the Trasfigurazione del Cristo or the Fornarina, the portrait of his young Roman mistress, daughter of a baker.
The house is run by the Raphael’s Academy, a very active group that organizes painting classes, conferences and cultural events.
Useful link: Marche Tourism #destinazionemarche
Pictures credits: Marche Tourism