Raphael

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Italian: [raffaˈɛllo ˈsantsjo da urˈbiːno]; April 6 or March 28, 1483 – April 6, 1520), known as Raphael (/ˈræfeɪəl/, US /ˈræfiəl, ˌrɑːfaɪˈɛl/), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period.

Raphael was enormously productive, running an unusually large workshop and, despite his death at 37, leaving a large body of work. Many of his works are found in the Vatican Palace, where the frescoed Raphael Rooms were the central, and the largest, work of his career. The best known work is The School of Athens in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura. After his early years in Rome much of his work was executed by his workshop from his drawings, with considerable loss of quality. He was extremely influential in his lifetime, though outside Rome his work was mostly known from his collaborative printmaking. After his death, the influence of his great rival Michelangelo was more widespread until the 18th and 19th centuries, when Raphael's more serene and harmonious qualities were again regarded as the highest models. His career falls naturally into three phases and three styles, first described by Giorgio Vasari: his early years in Umbria, then a period of about four years (1504–1508) absorbing the artistic traditions of Florence, followed by his last hectic and triumphant twelve years in Rome, working for two Popes and their close associates.

Toco

Toco is the most northeasterly village on the island of Trinidad in the County of Saint David at the point where the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet. Tobago lies only some 35 kilometers to the northeast which renders Toco the closest point in Trinidad to the sister island. The name Toco was ascribed to the area by its early Amerindian inhabitants. The meaning of the name is uncertain, yet its historical significance and value to the country is well noted.

Punta Galera (now Galera Point) is one of the sights of Toco. Galera is a slight corruption of the word "galea", the name originally given to the southeastern point, Galeota Point, by Christopher Columbus. The name was accidentally given to this point as well. The name stuck and it remains a popular tourist destination. The Galera Point Lighthouse in Toco was built in 1897 and today is surrounded by a park and picnic area.

History

Not much activity took place in Toco after the Spanish colonized Trinidad in 1531 until 1631, when Sir Henry Colt and English forces entered the territory without the knowledge of the Spanish. In 1637, the British were expelled by the Dutch, who had formed an alliance with the Amerindians in the area and were, not too long after, expelled by the Spanish.