Where can you see Raphael in Paris?

At the Louvre Museum: Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, La Belle Jardinière and Saint Michael Vanquishing Satan. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

What is Raphael's most famous work in Paris?

Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, of about 1514 to 1515, at the Louvre Museum. His friend the diplomat and writer, in grey fur and black velvet, looking at you with complete calm. Rembrandt sketched it and Matisse copied it.

When and where was Raphael born?

On 6 April 1483, at Urbino, Italy. Raphael died on 6 April 1520, at Rome, Italy, aged about 37.

What is Raphael known for?

Painted the School of Athens in the Vatican. Died at thirty-seven, on his birthday. His Castiglione is one of the great portraits of the Renaissance. Raphael was an Italian painter, of the High Renaissance.

Painter, 1483 to 1520

Raphael

Raphael died on his thirty-seventh birthday, the most admired painter in Europe. The kings of France collected him early, and the Louvre shows him a few steps from Leonardo.

Born: 1483, Urbino, Italy
Died: 1520, Rome, Italy
Movement: High Renaissance
In Paris: 3 works in 1 museum

Where to see Raphael in Paris

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

Louvre Museum3 works

Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione
about 1514 to 1515
His friend the diplomat and writer, in grey fur and black velvet, looking at you with complete calm. Rembrandt sketched it and Matisse copied it.
La Belle Jardinière
1507
The Virgin seated in a meadow with the infant Christ and Saint John, painted in Florence. The pyramid of figures is learned from Leonardo.
Saint Michael Vanquishing Satan
1518
The archangel landing on the devil, lance raised: a gift from the pope to the king of France, Francis I.

The life of Raphael

Raphael was born in Urbino in 1483, the son of a court painter, and learned from Perugino and then, in Florence, from Leonardo and Michelangelo. In 1508 the pope called him to Rome to paint the rooms of the Vatican, among them the School of Athens. He ran a large workshop, designed buildings and tapestries, and was courteous to everyone, which Michelangelo never forgave.

He died in Rome in 1520 after a short illness and was buried in the Pantheon. For three hundred years after, he was the painter every art student was told to copy.

What to know

Painted the School of Athens in the Vatican
Died at thirty-seven, on his birthday
His Castiglione is one of the great portraits of the Renaissance

Born: 6 April 1483, Urbino, Italy
Died: 6 April 1520, Rome, Italy

Raphael: common questions

Where can you see Raphael in Paris?: At the Louvre Museum: Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, La Belle Jardinière and Saint Michael Vanquishing Satan. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Raphael's most famous work in Paris?: Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, of about 1514 to 1515, at the Louvre Museum. His friend the diplomat and writer, in grey fur and black velvet, looking at you with complete calm. Rembrandt sketched it and Matisse copied it.
When and where was Raphael born?: On 6 April 1483, at Urbino, Italy. Raphael died on 6 April 1520, at Rome, Italy, aged about 37.
What is Raphael known for?: Painted the School of Athens in the Vatican. Died at thirty-seven, on his birthday. His Castiglione is one of the great portraits of the Renaissance. Raphael was an Italian painter, of the High Renaissance.