To understand what it felt like to be in Italy during the Renaissance, as Europe moved from the Middle Ages to the modern era, simply imagine sitting front row at a ballpark Beatles show, but instead of experiencing the art through guitars and microphones, picture a bursting panorama of towering portraits, divine ceilings and electric colors, which brought the beauty, pain and hope of the human experience into newfound focus.

Thanks in part to Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio) we can place ourselves in that corner of time during the 15th and 16 centuries when art, philosophy and innovation set us on a path to the world we live in today; and even more astonishing: the master artist only lived to be 37 but somehow made an indelible impact, as his art continues to ripple through the hearts and minds of those who lay their eyes upon it.