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Primary sourcePaintingc. 1516-1520

Transfiguration

Raphael · c. 1516-1520

Raphael's last painting, left unfinished at his death in 1520, depicting Christ's Transfiguration and the healing of a possessed boy.

Raphael's final, unfinished painting, created in the last years of his life and displayed at his funeral.

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Painting of the Transfiguration: a glowing robed figure rises among clouds with arms raised, flanked by two levitating robed figures. Below, disciples cover their eyes or kneel on a hill, and a crowd with a boy and a woman gathers in the lower foreground.
Raphael, Transfiguration, c. 1516-1520. Pinacoteca Vaticana, Vatican City.

About this source

What it is

This altarpiece was commissioned by Cardinal Giulio de Medici (later Pope Clement VII) for Narbonne Cathedral in France. Raphael worked on it in the years before his death in 1520, and it was unfinished when he died. It is now held in the Pinacoteca Vaticana.

Why it matters

The painting was created as part of a rivalry: Michelangelo provided drawings for a companion painting by Sebastiano del Piombo, reviving the long-standing competition between Michelangelo and Raphael. Raphael's painting was displayed above his own funeral bier after his death, and for centuries afterward it was regarded by many as the most famous oil painting in the world. It shows Raphael pushing his dramatic late style to compete with rivals right up until his death.

Look closer

  • Why do you think this painting combines two biblical episodes into one scene?
  • What might it mean that this painting was displayed at Raphael's own funeral?
  • How might knowing an artist died before finishing a work change how we look at it?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Raphael on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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