Prudence

c. 1515-1525 · Print

Ficha

1513
Leo X becomes pope
The death of Julius II did not interrupt the work: his successor, the Medici Pope Leo X, became Raphael's last and even closer patron, and Raphael's friend Cardinal Bibbiena was a close friend and adviser of the new pope.
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.