SANTI, Giovanni

(b. ~1435 Colbordolo, d. 1494 Urbino)

Italian painter and decorator, father of Raphael. He was a petty merchant for a time, then studied under Piero della Francesca, and seems to have been an assistant and friend of Melozzo da Forli. He is thought to have been influenced by Melozzo; he also expressed admiration for Mantegna. He was court painter to the Duke of Urbino and painted several altarpieces.

He was also a poet at the Court of Urbino. His poetry includes an epic in honour of one of his patrons, Federico III da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, followed a discourse on painting.

Santi’s house in Urbino is now a museum - the Casa di Raffaello. It contains a small fresco of the Virgin and Child that some authorities consider to be Santi’s portrayal of Raphael and his mother, and others claim as a very early work by Raphael himself.

Christ as the Man of Sorrows

Giovanni Santi’s work was greatly influenced by contemporary Flemish painters whose works he would have encountered at the court in Urbino. In the present painting the influence of Dieric Bouts the Elder can be observed.

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Man of Sorrows

Giovanni Santi enjoyed considerable success both at court and in society and his thriving workshop not only monopolized the market with its production of paintings, but attracted a circle of intellectuals and artists, creating a dominant artistic centre in Urbino toward the end of the fifteenth century.1 It was within these inspiring surroundings that Giovanni’s son, Raphael, was to train and flourish.

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Virgin and Child

Giovanni Santi, the father of Raphael, moved in the orbit of the sophisticated court of Urbino. A respectable corpus of works survives by him. The Virgin and Child in London is one of his characteristic paintings. This painting displays flesh tones composed with a pronounced use of lead white pigment, producing an opaque effect nearly identical to that visible in Raphael’s early paintings.

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