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.
Porto Rafael
Raphael was born on 26 August 1926 and sent to Paris and London to be educated. His father wanted him to study Architecture in Paris, but his bohemian son had other ideas, and became a chorus dancer in the Follies Bergeres dancing in Josephine Baker's shows. In 1959, Raphael took a trip to Sardinia, where he stumbled upon a small bay facing an Archipelago of little islands, (Maddalena archipelago) and he fell irrevocably in love with it. (see Book 'Sardinia' by Dana Facarci and Michael Pauls). He bought a small patch of land between Baia di Nelson (where Lord Nelson had once anchored his fleet) and Punta Sardegna, near the town of Palau, from a local landowner called Paolo Cudoni - and for the rest of his life, maintained he had first seen this place in a dream. "Sognare e Vivere" (to dream and to live) became the motto of his eponymous resort. 
Lord Nelson made a gift of silver candlesticks and a silver cross to the church of Santa Maddalena, on the island of La Maddalena across the water from Porto Rafael which are still on display at the "Diocesano" museum.