His father was a painter

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino was the lone child of Giovanni Santi and his wife Magia di Battista Ciarla. He was born on April 6, 1483, in Urbino, Italy. Federico da Montefeltro, the Duke of Urbino, employed his father as a court painter. He taught his son how to paint for the first time. When Raphael was 8 years old, his mother passed away in 1491. Three years later, at the age of 11, his father passed away, leaving Raphael an orphan. He had a stepmother because his father had remarried, but his lone paternal uncle, a priest named Bartolomeo, served as his legal guardian.

His output included several altarpieces, several Madonnas, an annunciation, and a picture of the crucified Christ being held up by two angels. Numerous pieces are on display in museums all around Europe, including the Berlin Museum, the National Gallery in London, and the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts.

Raphael was probably too young to have learned most of his artistic techniques from his father, but he undoubtedly had a deep love of the arts and humanism at a young age. Giorgio Vasari noted in Raphael's biography that Raphael had "shown talent at a young age" and had "been exceedingly helpful to his father while he painted."