The genius of Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1483-1520) lay in his outstanding ability to adapt to fresh ideas and experiment with every new manner he came across. Trained in Umbria alongside his father Giovanni Santi, Pinturicchio, and Perugino, Raphael then moved to Florence, where he met Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Finally, in Rome he witnessed the works of the Venetian masters, and studied the examples of classical antiquity firsthand. A man of immense intellect, Raphael engaged in lively exchanges with scholars of his day, including Baldassar Castiglione. Raphael's last great intellectual challenge, however, lay incomplete upon his death, and that was the detailed reconstruction of how Rome looked in the classical era. The new profile of Raphael that has come to light from recent studies and the restoration of several masterpieces (such as the frescoes in the Vatican Stanze), has finally cleared him of the old accusation of academicism. Read Less