Among the highlights for visitors to the Vatican Museums, in addition to the Sistine Chapel, are the celebrated Stanze, the private papal chambers frescoed in the early sixteenth century by the great Renaissance master Raphael (Raffaello Santi or Sanzio) (1483–1520). The frescoes in the Stanza della Segnatura, which show Apollo and the muses sitting in mute dialogue with the saints and ancient philosophers, are perhaps the most eloquent expression of the lofty and harmonious vision that we associate with the High Renaissance. Although Raphael did not live long enough to complete the entire Stanze project, his name has become virtually synonymous with the ideals of reason, harmony, and graceful artifice that these frescoes embody. And yet, they represent only one aspect of his oeuvre. Less well known today (yet equally famous in his own time) are his portraits, whose freshness and immediacy belie the nearly 500 years that have passed since their creation.