Books on Raphael

General Introduction

The best one-volume introduction to Raphael is
Raphael, Roger Jones and Nicholas Penny
Yale University Press ($35.00) ISBN 0300040520.

This book is a brilliant treatment of Raphael's career with fabulous color photographs of the paintings and excellent background on both his life and his works.

School of Athens

If you find the School of Athens fresco by Raphael as fascinating as I do then you will be happy to know that there is a whole book on the subject:

Raphael's School of Athens, edited by Marcia Hall
Cambridge University Press ($16.95), ISBN 0521448999.
This is a selection of some of the most influential articles written on the painting and Raphael with a fine general introduction by Marcia Hall.