Raphael

Stunning exhibition at the National Gallery on the life and work of Raphael.

I had been so looking forward to this exhibition, which had originally been planned for 2020 to mark 500 years since the artists death, and it didn’t disappoint. You are greeted by the gallery’s own Mond Crucifixion which looked amazing and it just continued getting better and better ending on a high of a room of portraits.

It was good to have the small leaflet with the pictures descriptions back as it does stop people bunching around the labels and eases the flow around the show.

The show was given added grandeur by being in the more classic upstairs rooms and there with wonderful vistas to iconic pictures throughout. There were some great loans including one of the Vatican tapestries, the portrait of Bindo Altoviti from Washington and beautiful Madonnas from Naples and Madrid. Where significant pieces couldn’t be moved there were good facsimiles including one shown at eye level of the School of Athens fresco from the Vatican.

Alongside the colourful pictures there was a lovely selection of drawings which often felt more spontaneous. I particular like those modelled by studio assistants in contemporary clothes. The show also covered all aspects of Raphael’s career so also looked at archaeology, architecture, print making and design.

All in all a super show and great experience and I’ll almost certainly be going back at least once to cement it in my mind.

Closes 31 July 2022

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