There are many different layers to Urbino’s charm, including its architecture, landscape and buzzing community piazza. However, it is absolutely impossible to live in the Renaissance city of Urbino, Italy without touching the topic of art. Urbino is notorious for birthing one of the most impactful artists of the High Renaissance. His name is Raffaello Sanzio.
I’ve chosen to talk about Raffaello and his art today because even though he grew up and started in the small town of Urbino, he became famous far beyond that. He was taught to paint by his father, who also was an artisan.
In the past, it wasn’t unusual for a young child to be trained in one specific field and expected to make a career in it. It was even more common for young children to grow up and take over the family business. In Rafaello’s early life, he often helped his father. Then as he branched into his own work he began to paint Madonnas, portraits of his loved ones and portraits of others he met along the way. He went on to do an apprenticeship in Perugia and then spent some time in Florence.
Fun fact, Florence is actually the birthplace of the Renaissance. As a lover of language linguistics, the word renaissance is quite fascinating to me.
