masc. proper name, Biblical archangel (Apocrypha), from Late Latin, from Greek Rhaphael, from Hebrew Repha'el, literally "God has healed," from rapha "he healed" + el "God." Raphaelesque (1832) is in reference to painter Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520). See Pre-Raphaelite.
A sixteenth-century Italian painter. A contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, he is known for his beautiful and gracious Madonnas and The School of Athens (see Plato's Academy).