Part of a new series of monographs from Phaidon, this coffee-table-sized book aims, in the words of its author, to “disclose the compelling story of Raphael’s striving for achievement, at the same time hoping to unfold the breathtaking pleasure of seeing the results.”

The unfolding takes place on nearly every page, from large reproductions of most of Raphael’s paintings—some of them spread over two pages—to an extensive offering of preparatory drawings and architectural plans to works by other artists that influenced him. A real treat is an ink-and-brush study Raphael did as an assistant to Pinturicchio for the latter’s frescoes portraying the life of Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini. As is to be expected from this legendary art publisher, the quality of the reproductions is very high.

Bette Talvacchia, a professor at the University of Connecticut, gives a detailed account of Raphael’s methods and workshop procedure, including red chalk (then a new medium), the use of counterproofs to examine how an image would look reversed and a special adaptation of silverpoint.

The book truly excels in its biographical sections. Not that there’s a great deal of information about the master’s private life; this is a professional biography, the story of a man’s transformation from an extraordinarily talented painter into a new kind of being—the artist-courtier. Raphael’s massive and efficient workshop, his commissions for the Roman nobility and Pope Julius II, and his architectural and decorative work on St. Peter’s Basilica gained him acceptance as a peer from his patrons. For the first time, a mere painter had reached a level of society previously reserved for the aristocracy.

When Raphael died suddenly of illness at the age of 37, the artist was at work designing his own palatial house in the most desirable district of Rome, a residence fit for a man of his stature. In death, he was turned into a kind of saint by his contemporaries. Talvacchia reveals a more interesting figure.