Raphael Arrives in Florence

1505

A twenty-two-year-old painter from Urbino reached Florence with a letter of introduction and a knack for absorbing whatever he looked at. Within months Raphael was synthesizing Leonardo's sfumato and Michelangelo's anatomy into serene Madonnas that would redefine the word beautiful for three centuries. His ability to absorb other artists' innovations was the source of his achievement: a style of effortless harmony that became Western art's standard.