Herkules und Antaeus

1514

Chief architect of St Peter's

After Bramante's death Raphael became chief architect of the new St Peter's and continued Bramante's construction of the Vatican Loggias, whose vaults his pupils painted.

1514

Engaged to Maria Bibbiena

Raphael became engaged to Cardinal Bibbiena's niece Maria, apparently talked into it by his friend the cardinal and without much enthusiasm: the marriage had still not taken place when she died in 1520. A permanent fixture in his Roman life was “La Fornarina”, Margherita Luti, a baker's daughter.

1515

Prefect of the antiquities of Rome

Raphael was given powers as Prefect over all antiquities unearthed in Rome or within a mile of it: finds had to be reported to him within three days, and inscriptions could not be destroyed without permission. He wrote to the pope proposing ways to halt the destruction of ancient monuments and a survey to record them all.

1520

His last illness and a fatal bloodletting

Vasari blamed Raphael's death on debauchery, but modern researchers attribute it to a respiratory illness with high fever. A medical error proved fatal: doctors sent by the pope misdiagnosed him and tried to bring down the fever by bloodletting.

1520

His will: the studio to Giulio Romano and Penni

In the fifteen days of his illness Raphael was composed enough to confess, receive the last rites and dictate his will: he left money for his mistress's care in the hands of his loyal servant Baviera, most of his studio to Giulio Romano and Penni, and asked to be buried in the Pantheon.

6. April 1520

Died