The Complete Work of Raphael Hardcover – January 1, 1969

This book is beyond beautiful... It's absolutely Magnificent... Has everything that you need to know about Raphael.Believe me, this book is fantastic ...

The realism of Raphael's masterpieces are priceless. You feel the life in these paintings. What a pleasure to enjoy these treasures.The images and the story gives great insight into this legendary master.Though an IT guru for 37 years, and I have been part of the development of the digital age, I still prefer to view the great masterpieces on a printed page. Aside from viewing them in person, this is the better option.

Certainly a valuable book. I would recommend it to Art History students and to people who want to acquire a deep knowledge of Raphael's work. Very detailed information. It is a huge and heavy book. Mostly black and white pictures.

It completely includes all of his works with terrific text about the artist and his life, as well as wonderful images of his paintings and other works of art.

Fine seller. Thank you.

Very large book. Excellent!

This book covers every known detail of Raphael's life and work. A complete reference that looks at drawings and preparations for the paintings, the paintings themselves, and architectural studies, it also offers knowledgeable scholarship that is readable to the interested amateur. Bravo!The book itself is enormous. 650 pages, 12" x 18", 13 pounds. It is hard to move it around. It is hard to open it carefully to the center pages without cracking the spine. It is a difficult book to work with. I had to pick a spot in my house for reading this book, and just leave it in that place with my notes nearby. It is too heavy to reshelve every day.But it's worth it.The opening chapter pieces together what is known about Raphael's biography, and ties the biography into his work as a student and a master. This section mostly references his paintings. There is a second section looking at Raphael's drawings, and especially delving into his plans for large room decorations in the Vatican and other buildings. There is a very informative section of the book that shows Raphael's study of ancient myth and storytelling. For me, the most helpful section was the final 40 pages or so that looked at Raphael through the perspective of more recent art phases: neoclassical, romanticism, enlightenment, modernism, surrealism.I owe much to this book: my knowledge and taste has grown because of the time I spent reading these writings.The book offers hundreds of black and white reproductions but only 25 glorious color plates.For home use? Maybe not. I say this as a homeschooling parent. This book is PERFECT for an intensely interested student, but it is too much for most occasions. I recommend two different resources:Raphael by Christof Thoenes: 95 pages, it offers excellent COLOR reproductions of the paintings, as well as some drawings and portraiture. The Thoenes book has every color plate contained in its more massive cousin.The Great Masters of Italian Art by Elena Capretti sets Raphael into the context of the centuries - how he drew from and influenced other artists, the interplay of ideas among these splendid men. There is not enough of any one artist's work in this book, BUT it offers good scope for a unit study for your family.

comprehensive but mostly black & white

Excellent, very big size and very useful to Raphael's art admirers. It will be very good source if any publisher would reprint with more colour pictures in medium size with affordable price.