Raphael Sanzio, known simply as Raphael, has always been acknowledged as one of the greatest of the European masters. Raphael received his early training from his father, Giovanni, in his hometown of Urbino, before becoming a pupil of Pietro Perugino. Moving from Perugia to Florence, and then called to Rome to work for the Pope, Raphael created altarpieces, frescos and stand-alone easel paintings revealing his precocious skill. Raphael’s decorations in the Vatican Palace, filling walls and ceilings with biblical and classical narratives, were executed with the aid of assistants from the workshop he established to carry out his important commissions. Universally admired, Raphael achieved a greatness in his brief life that continued long after his death.