CARMEN BAMBACH: A lot of these altarpieces are about creating a kind of almost fictive conversation between saints and the religious figures that are being depicted.

ISABELLA ROSSELLINI (NARRATOR): Here we see the Madonna at center, with the baby Jesus on her lap. He both looks and reaches towards Tobias: the boy kneeling at lower left, holding the fish.

But the baby Jesus is also in a gestural conversation with Saint Jerome, the red-robed figure on the right. Notice where Raphael has placed Jesus’s other hand.

BAMBACH: He has moved it back to touch the Bible that Saint Jerome is holding. And it is to acknowledge that Jerome was a translator of the Bible. And so importantly, the linking of the figures starts in a very elegant, understated way to tell us why they are significant.

ROSSELLINI: In addition, Raphael continues to humanize these major religious figures. Look at the lion resting near Jerome’s feet.

BAMBACH: The lion is essentially the attribute of Saint Jerome. What does Raphael do here? He practically is a cat. It’s almost like Saint Jerome’s pet.

ROSSELLINI: By the time he’d completed this altarpiece, Raphael had risen to become the leading painter in Rome. In the next gallery, you’ll see more examples of the mature, monumental altarpieces he created during this period. In particular, look out for the altarpiece starring Saint Cecilia.