Raphael
His mother Màgia died in 1491 when Raphael was eight, followed on August 1, 1494 by his father, who had already remarried. Raphael was thus orphaned at eleven; his formal guardian became his only paternal uncle Bartolomeo, a priest, who subsequently engaged in litigation with his stepmother. He probably continued to live with his stepmother when not staying as an apprentice with a master. He had already shown talent, according to Vasari, who says that Raphael had been "a great help to his father". A self-portrait drawing from his teenage years shows his precocity. His father's workshop continued and, probably together with his stepmother, Raphael evidently played a part in managing it from a very early age. In Urbino, he came into contact with the works of Paolo Uccello, previously the court painter (d. 1475), and Luca Signorelli, who until 1498 was based in nearby Città di Castello.
Raphael’s Ephemeris
"Raphael’s Ephemeris" was first issued as part of an almanac entitled "The Prophetic Messenger" in the early nineteenth century. ‘Raphael’, the name given to one of three archangels in the Old Testament, was in fact one Robert Cross Smith (1795–1832), a former carpenter who had developed an interest in astrology. Smith first used the pseudonym in 1824 when he edited a periodical called "The Straggling Astrologer", later re-published as "The Astrologer of the Nineteenth Century". He also referred to himself as the ‘Royal Merlin’. "The Straggling Astrologer" was a relative failure, but by 1827 Smith had assumed editorship of "The Prophetic Messenger", which was read widely by astrologers of the day, and contributed to a renaissance of interest in astrology in the nineteenth century.