In 1508, the League of Cambrai was formed by Pope JuliusII, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, Louis XII of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon to attack Venice.
There are no sketches or documents relating to the Sistine Madonna's composition, but the museum fills this gap by exhibiting several other Raphaels, including the famous portrait (on loan from the Uffizi) of a melancholy JuliusII slumped in his red throne and a portrait of the noblewomen Donna Velata, whose noble features may have inspired Raphael's depiction of Mary in the Sistine Madonna.