Raphael is often portrayed as the Renaissance’s natural genius — the painter for whom everything came effortlessly. In reality, he was one of the most strategically ambitious artists who ever lived, cultivating patrons with diplomatic skill, studying rivals’ techniques with forensic precision, and positioning himself at the center of power in papal Rome through a combination of talent and relentless networking that would impress any modern CEO.

This episode traces Raphael from his early training in Urbino through his systematic study of Leonardo and Michelangelo, the Vatican commissions that made him the most celebrated painter in Europe, and his sudden death at thirty-seven that plunged Rome into mourning.

• Raphael’s early training and the strategic moves that brought him from Urbino to Florence to Rome
• How he studied and absorbed the techniques of Leonardo and Michelangelo without imitating either
• The Vatican Stanze, the School of Athens, and the papal patronage that crowned his career
• His sudden death at thirty-seven and the outpouring of grief that made him a legend