Despite his short life, the multi-talented Italian Renaissance painter Raphael had a profound influence on Western culture.
Raphael (Raphaello Santi) died in 1520 at just 37 years-old – yet his work as a poet, archeologist, painter appointed to redecorate the papal apartments and the architect of St Peter’s cemented his pivotal role in the history of Western art. This exhibition is one of the first to examine the breadth of Raphael’s output, extending beyond his celebrated paintings and drawings.
As well as ten works from the National Gallery’s outstanding collection, the showcase includes unprecedented loans from around the world. Institutions including The Louvre, The Uffizi and the Vatican Museum are contributing, with designs that can’t be relocated – such as the staggering frescoed rooms in the Vatican Palace – represented in other ways.
Considered more versatile than Michelangelo and more prolific than Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael is not only held up as an exemplar of classicism, he also designed across artforms that he didn’t himself practice. Discover an artist who wrote his name into history with just two decades of work, in this wide-ranging showcase.
