Scheduled for 2020, and postponed due to the pandemic, it finally opened on April 9 “The Credit Suisse Exhibition: Raphael“, The exhibition that brings i Raphael's masterpieces at the National Gallery in London. Until 31 July 2022, visitors will therefore be able to admire over 90 works by the incredible Italian genius.
Raphael at the National Gallery in London
The London gallery, in its permanent collection, welcomes nine works by Raffaello Sanzio. However, the exhibition sees several other masterpieces from the most important museums in the world, including the Louvre and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The result? A show-event, actually planned for 2020 (on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the death of the artist from Urbino, who died prematurely at the age of 37 in 1520). However, restrictions due to the pandemic have made timely opening impossible. Now, instead, the museum has been able to inaugurate this exhibition itinerary made up of paintings, but also of digressions. From architecture to design, from sculpture to poetry, from tapestries to archeology and printing, Raffaello Sanzio's was an all-round genius.
The story of Raffaello Sanzio
Born in Urbino in 1483, Raphael inherited his father's talent for ingenuity and painting Giovanni santi, also a painter. Orphaned at the age of 11, he carries out his apprenticeship at the workshop of Peter Vannucci, known as “Il Perugino”, where he immediately showed great talent. Precisely because of his precocious talent, Raphael received various commissions from the most important Umbrian lords even before reaching the age of majority. After the period in Perugia - where he has the opportunity to make friends with several established artists, including the Pinturicchio - at the age of 21 he decides to move to Florence attracted by the works of Leonardo e Michelangelo. It was during the Florentine period that he created the series of Madonnas and Child, one of the artist's most loved subjects, perhaps due to the premature loss of his mother.
The artist's life and career took a real turning point at the age of 25. When, having moved to Rome, Raphael received from Pope Julius II the very important task of frescoing the Papal Rooms. It is from here on that the Urbino artist creates his most important works of him, also showing his remarkable skills as an architect (since 1514 he has been working on the project for the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican). Raphael died in 1520 at the age of 37, due to a fever caused by amorous excesses. His body is still preserved today inside the Pantheon.
What to see inside the exhibition
Raphael's exhibition at the National Gallery in London begins with a section dedicated to the artist's first creations, dating back to periods spent in Urbino and the Marche. Continuing you can admire the works created by Raphael during the Florentine period: they are the paintings on the theme of “Virgin and Child“, Well summarized in the Madonna Ansidei. Continuing along the path, you will cross the section dedicated to the artist's Roman period, with the works commissioned by the Sienese banker Agostino Chigi (Raphael's most important lay patron). One room is completely dedicated to the works requested by Pope Julius II for the Vatican Rooms, but there is also space for tapestries and portraits. Among the paintings present in the latter one of the most surprising is the portrait of Lorenzo de medici, auctioned in 2007 at a record figure of 37 million dollars.
Featured photo taken from Wikipedia (credit Public domain)
Brilliant!