Raphael's workshop was a springboard for his assistants to independent careers. Among them, Giulio Romano and Perino del Vaga became successful leaders of their own workshops, and they continued to emulate Raphael's pragmatic approach to drawing. The ability to master monumental decorative fresco cycles can be seen in Giulio Romano's later work in Mantua, where he served as court artist to the Gonzaga family.

One of Romano's most dramatic and outrageous conceptions was the enveloping scheme he designed for the Camera dei Giganti (Room of the Giants) in the Palazzo Te. His attempt to discern the most effective positions for the tumultuous and overpowering crowd of figures within the room is recorded in Janus, Chronos, Gaea, and a Victory.