Raphael was the quintessential artist of his age, the Renaissance - the rebirth of antiquity. The arrival in Italy of Byzantine scholars after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 brought the knowledge and humanism of Greece and Ancient Rome. And Pope Julius II was a great patron of the arts, in 10 years commissioning St Peter's Basilica, Michelangelo's ceilings in the Sixtine Chapel, superb frescoes, and much more