The Steward of Raphael’s Legacy In the golden, transformative era of the Italian Renaissance, few figures embody the transition from High Renaissance harmony to the stylized elegance of Mannerism as intimately as Giovanni Francesco Penni. Known to history by the affectionate moniker “il Fattore”—the Steward—Penni was far more than a mere administrator of artistic affairs; he was a vital conduit through which the divine grace of Raphael Sanzio flowed into a new generation. Born in Florence around 1488, Penni’s early life was steeped in the meticulous traditions of his family's textile trade.…