Raffaello stayed in Florence for four years (1504 - 1508),
here he discovered Masaccio, Donatello,
Leonardo and Michelangelo.

Here he met and made friends with Bastiano da Sangallo,
Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, Frà (friar) Bartolomeo,
Antonio da Sangallo and Andrea Sansovino.

In this fervid environment he composed
some of his masterpieces, such as
the Madonna del Cardellino, the Bella Giardiniera,
the Madonna del Belvedere, the Sacra Famiglia Canigiani,
the Madonna Tempi, the Madonna Bridgewater,
the Madonna Cowper,
the portraits of Agnolo and Maddalena Doni.

In all the paintings the Madonnas are depicted in different poses,
to demonstrate the study that Raphael
dedicated to the maternal figure.