Self-portrait of Raphael
Looking at his portrait of a young man with an angelic and delicate face, it seems difficult to imagine him as a fiery and libertine lover, yet Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520), according to the words of Giorgio Vasari , he was " very loving person fond of women and carnal delights" until, perhaps, we die.
Raphael died on the night of April 6, 1520, a Good Friday.
For several days he had had a fever came " after messing up more than usual".
In other words, according to Vasari, the young artist, just thirty-seven, would have been a victim of his own amorous excesses.
Infection?
Venereal disease?
Given the lack of medical knowledge of the time, it is practically impossible to trace with certainty the causes that led to the premature death of the greatest painter of the Renaissance ( to learn more click here: travellericheignorano.blogspot.com/2018/05/gli-eccessi-amorosi-che-uccisero.html).
However, that he was a real tombeur de femmes, he is well established.
In 1520, the year of his death, Raphael had long had an overwhelming relationship with Margherita Luti.
This beautiful girl, who did not fail to portray in various works, is better known as La Fornarina she (she was a baker's daughter).
In order to always have her by his side, when he had to move to Rome to fresco the Loggia of the Palazzo della Farnesina by Agostino Chigi, the artist demanded and obtained that even her beloved could move there with him.
We have little biographical information on the young woman, much of which is closer to legend than historical truth.
Some scholars believe that she, after marrying Raphael in secret, she retired to a convent soon after being widowed.