Rudolf Steiner’s scientific, spiritual research into the life of Raphael extended beyond his incarnation as a significant artist in the period known as the High Renaissance (1500 A.D.) into the previous incarnations of the individual who incarnated as Raphael and also to one subsequent incarnation. The results of his research present us with a set of deep mysteries. Looking at the paintings and the other activities in which he was engaged in the last 8 years of his life is a path into understanding some of these mysteries. To this later period belong two of the greatest works of European Art, the Sistine Madonna and Raphael’s painting of the Transfiguration.