Raffaele Sansoni Galeoti Riario (3 May 1461 – 9 July 1521) was an Italian cardinal of the Renaissance, mainly known as the constructor of the Palazzo della Cancelleria and the person who invited Michelangelo to Rome.

Despite his innocence, Raffaele was arrested by the Florentine authorities because he was a relation of the conspirators Girolamo Riario, his mother's brother and the head of the plot, and the Archbishop Francesco Salviati.

It is said that Franceschetto Cybo, the infamous son of Innocent VIII, lost in one single night 15,000 ducats at a card game which took place in Raffaele's residence.

He finally voted for Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI), receiving the lucrative Bishopric of Cartagena as a reward for his support.

In 1493, he was sent as legate to Caterina Sforza, Girolamo Riario's widow, to prevent her from allowing the French troops to pass through Forlì and Imola.

A lover of fine arts and especially sculpture, Cardinal Riario's artistic choices foreshadow the arrival of High Renaissance in Rome.

His gigantic residence, influenced by Florentine architecture, is the first building of the new monumental style which prevailed in the Holy City under Julius II.

In 1496, the Sleeping Cupid was treacherously sold to him as an ancient piece: the aesthetic prelate discovered the cheat, but was so impressed by the quality of the sculpture that he invited the artist to Rome, where Michelangelo worked on the three major commissions of his career.

Raffaele Riario is generally considered a prelate typical of his era: indifferent in religious matters, rather a statesman than a priest, rather a Maecenas than a theologian.