It is ironic that the Sistine Madonna's most famous aspect is not its emotionally complex portrait of Mary and Jesus, but rather the cherubs propping themselves up on an altar at the base of the composition.
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 Julius II 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 SistineMadonna.
In Rome, he saw Michelangelo's ceiling fresco for the Sistine Chapel, as well as works by the extremely Mannerist artist Parmagianino he of the famous "Madonna of the Long Neck" (and the adult-proportioned baby Jesus on her lap).