Raphael was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect who served as a leading figure in the High Renaissance period in Rome. He was supported by the Medici family and Pope Leo X and is known for his frescoes in the Vatican's Raphael Rooms as well as his Madonna paintings and portraits. Other major figures of the High Italian Renaissance discussed include Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, and Giorgione, with an emphasis on their religious works and commissions from powerful patrons like Pope Julius II.