nhabitants led simple, religious lives. We must remember, too, that
hardly fifty miles away was the village of Assisi, where Saint
Francis, the purest of men, had lived and labored and where, after his
death, a double church had been built to his memory.

To this day there is a spirit of reverence that inspires the visitor
to this region. No wonder that, in Raphael's time when this spirit was
fresh and strong, it gave a character of piety and sweetness to the
works of all the painters of Umbria. From these two causes, the
secluded position of the region and the influence of Saint Francis,
arose what is called the Umbrian school of painting. All painters
belonging to this school made pictures very beautiful and full of fine
religious feeling.

One April morning in 1483, to the home of Giovanni Santi, the painter,
and his wife Magia, a dear little boy came, as millions of boys and
girls have since come, to cheer and to bless. The father and mother
were very proud of their little son, and feeling perhaps that a more
than ordinary child had been given them, they gave him the name of
Raphael, as one of good omen.

If we were to visit, in Urbino, the house where Raphael was born, we
would be shown a faded fresco of a Madonna and Child painted by
Giovanni and said to be Magia and the child Raphael.

From the earliest years the child was carefully tended. When he was
only eight, the fond mother died and left the father to care for his
boy alone. In due time a step-mother was brought home. She was a kind
woman and loved and cared for the beautiful lad as if he were really
her own child. Later when the father died, leaving the boy Raphael and
his little half-sister, no one could have been more solicitous for the
boy's rights than his step-mother. She and his uncle together managed
his affairs most wisely.

We have no record that, like Titian, the boy Raphael used the juice of
flowers with which to paint pictures of his childish fancies, but we
do know that very early he became greatly interested in his father's
studio and went in regularly to assist. Now, it must be remembered
that, at this time, when a boy, wishing to learn to paint, went to the
studio of a master he did not at once begin to use colors, brushes,
and canvas. Instead, he usually served a long apprenticeship, sweeping
out the studio, cleaning the brushes, grinding colors, and performing
other common duties. Raphael's assistance to his father must have been
la