Raphael's death in a painting
Of the death of Raffaello Sanzio , the great Italian painter, I have already spoken in this post: https://www.pilloledistoria.it/10835/storia-moderna/raffaello-mori-a-causa-di-eccessi-amorosi.
According to Giorgio Vasari , he perished from "excesses of love" , an expression that most likely indicated a venereal disease.
The artist disappeared on April 6, 1520, on his 37th birthday.
The cause was indeed a disease, probably syphilis ?
In reality, especially in the eighteenth century, another hypothesis took shape, that of poisoning.
But who could have desired Raphael's death to the point of killing him?
The possible culprit was identified in Sebastiano Del Piombo, great rival of the painter and tremendously jealous of him, who at the time was at the height of his success.
There was no court or lord who did not wish to avail himself of Raphael's extraordinary talent.
Could fame and glory have even cost him his life?
One circumstance appears rather disturbing in this regard.
At the time of her death, the woman from Urbino was working on the Transfiguration, a work that Giuliano De Medici had commissioned both him and Del Piombo.
The canvas remained unfinished and was found (apparently) on the bed.
Not enough.
Sources say that at the exhumation of the painter's body, in 1722, clear traces of arsenic poisoning were found.
Are these few elements enough to establish with certainty the causes of Raphael's death?
The only certain thing is that this year marks the 500th anniversary of the event and we hope Italy celebrates it properly.