{"id":12844,"date":"2020-02-09T18:35:44","date_gmt":"2020-02-09T17:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myfloraguide.com\/?p=12844\/"},"modified":"2020-05-17T12:52:44","modified_gmt":"2020-05-17T10:52:44","slug":"temporary-exhibitions-for-raphael-500th-anniversary-discovering-the-prince-of-the-renaissance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myfloraguide.com\/en\/2020\/02\/09\/temporary-exhibitions-for-raphael-500th-anniversary-discovering-the-prince-of-the-renaissance\/","title":{"rendered":"TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS FOR RAPHAEL 500TH ANNIVERSARY. DISCOVERING THE PRINCE OF THE RENAISSANCE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sophisticated, elegant, handsome: Raphael was the courtly painter \u2013 and womaniser \u2013 of  the Renaissance in Italy.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Born in Urbino on April 6th, 1483 and died in Rome on April 6th, 1520 \u2013 yes, it is not a mistake, that\u2019s exactly the same day \u2013 Raphael was the son of a painter, Giovanni Santi. <\/i><\/p>\n

This year, we are going <\/i>to celebrate the 500th anniversary from his death. Allegedly, Raphael was born and died on Good Friday, preceding the Easter Sunday. According to legend, when he died in Rome at the young age of 37, floods of people came to farewell the great artist who was in company of his last masterpiece, the \u201cTransfiguration\u201d (1518-1520, Vatican Museums). Furthermore, a divine crack broke the Vatican Palace, probably an earthquake, like in Christ\u2019s Passion. <\/i><\/p>\n

The association between Raphael and the Christ was particulary evident: he was the favourit of the Popes, especially Leo X of the Medici family and he was considered the only one capable of rescuing the glory of the ancient Rome. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s discover something more about this Renaissance\u2019s star!<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

RAPHAEL\u2019S LIFE: URBINO, FLORENCE, ROME<\/b><\/p>\n

\"SposalizioRaphael grew in the cultured atmosphere of the <\/span>Urbino<\/b> court, in the Marche region. His father <\/span>Giovanni Santi<\/b> was an educated painter in contact with <\/span>Piero della Francesca<\/b> and the Flamish master <\/span>Justus van Gent<\/b>. They both influenced the young Raphael: Piero della Francesca with his sense of geometry and proportions; Justus van Gent with his meticulous attention for details.<\/span><\/p>\n

Raphael lost his parents in the 1490s; he trained in Citt\u00e0 di Castello at the workshop of <\/span>Perugino<\/b>, the most famous and talented Umbrian painter and the fierce enemy of <\/span>Pinturicchio<\/b>. In 1500, Raphael was already called <\/span>magister<\/i><\/b>: he probably inherited his father\u2019s workshop. The worskshop of Perugino was a cultural bridge between the refined court of Urbino and the Renaissance city of Florence: an ideal place for Raphael. <\/span><\/p>\n

Already in his first works, like the \u201c<\/span>Marriage of the Virgin<\/i><\/b>\u201d (1503-04, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan), Raphael showed that grace, elegance and harmony were in his DNA. Between 1503 and 1506 he worked with Pinturicchio for the wonderful \u201cLibreria Piccolomini\u201d in the Cathedral of Siena. Later, around 1504, he moved to Florence, where his reference points were the masters <\/span>Leonardo da Vinci<\/b> and <\/span>Michelangelo<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Disegno<\/p>\n

\"DisegnoRaphael admired the \u201cCartoon of Saint Anne\u201d by Leonardo, drawn a \u201cLeda\u201d after Leonardo\u2019s drawing and portraited the \u201cDavid\u201d by Michelangelo. <\/span><\/p>\n

A taste for gigantic and monumentality was developping in Florence due to Michelangelo\u2019s works. <\/span><\/p>\n

In his florentine period, Raphael painted the famous portrait of \u201c<\/span>Agnolo Doni<\/i><\/b>\u201d and \u201c<\/span>Maddalena Strozzi<\/i><\/b>\u201d, the couple who entrusted in 1507 from Michelangelo the worldfamous \u201cTondo Doni\u201d. All this paintings are displayed in the same room at the Uffizi Gallery, in Florence.<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201c<\/span>Madonna of the goldfinch<\/i><\/b>\u201d (1505-1506, Uffizi Gallery, Florence) is a sublime masterpiece by Raphael: you can feel the delicate sweetness in the rotation sense of the composition, in the interplay between the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, on a peaceful backdrop. Nature in Raphael\u2019s works, with feathery poplar trees and calm streams, is always a serene and confident friend.  The \u201cMadonna of the goldfinch\u201d was entrusted by Lorenzo Nasi from Raphael for his wedding; in 1548, unfortunately, Nasi\u2019s home in Florence collapsed because off an earthquake. The painting broke in 17 different pieces; it was later restored.  <\/span><\/p>\n

1508 is the key juncture year in Raphael\u2019s life: after starting the \u201cMadonna del Baldacchino\u201d for the Dei family (Pitti Palace, Florence), he left Florence for <\/span>Rome<\/b>. One year later, he was appointed from the Pope to sign papal \u201cbrevi\u201d, a unique skill for cultured humanists. Only <\/span>Leon Battista Alberti<\/b>, architect, writer, clergyman and scientist of the Quattrocento, had the same honour before Raphael. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The adventure of Raphal reached its peak in the \u201c<\/span>Stanze Vaticane<\/b>\u201d: the <\/span>Pope Jules II della Rovere<\/b> entrusted from Raphael, Perugino, Lorenzo Lotto and Baldassare Peruzzi to paint his apartments. Jules II couldn\u2019t bear the fact that, before him, the <\/span>Pope Alexander VI Borgia<\/b> had lived in the same rooms. Raphael took part to the work in cooworking with Perugino, but after a few months, he became the only responsible in charge. These were the same years while <\/span>Michelangelo<\/b> was painting inside the <\/span>Sistine Chapel<\/b>: the thrilling air was imbued with adrenalin, fury and astonishment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Raphael painted in the \u201c<\/span>Stanze Vaticane<\/b>\u201d his masterpiece, the \u201c<\/span>School of Athens<\/i><\/b>\u201d, one of the Renaissance icons: a plethora of ancient Greek and oriental philosophers reasons about philosophy and humankind under a colossal building. The unforgettable central figures of <\/span>Plato <\/b>and <\/span>Aristotle<\/b> (recognised as the portraits of <\/span>Leonardo da Vinci<\/b> and <\/span>Bastiano da Sangallo<\/b>) are grand, monumental and imposing with gestures and emphasis. Plato points up to the sky, the world of the ideas, whereas Aristotle points down to the earth, the world of the knowledge. The majestic, impressive, classical architecture funnels the view to both philosophers. According to tradition, the philosopher <\/span>Eraclito<\/b>, solitary and melancholic, is a homage to <\/span>Michelangelo<\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Scuola<\/p>\n

After his epic challenge in the \u201cStanze Vaticane\u201d, Raphael was crowned the <\/span>Prince of the Renaissance<\/b>. In 1513, Cardinal Giovanni de\u2019 Medici, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, was elected <\/span>Pope Leo X<\/b>. Raphael became his favourit artist and was in charge of the restoration of <\/span>Saint Peter Basilica<\/b>. He entrusted him to lay out the plan of the ancient Rome, \u201c<\/span>Urbis Romae cum regionibus simulachrum<\/i><\/b>\u201d, but unfortunately he never fineshed the project. <\/span><\/p>\n

In 151\"Trionfo4, the banker Agostino Chigi summoned Raphael to paint his wonderful <\/span>Villa Farnesina<\/b>. It was situated in the countryside: today, it is in the center of Rome, in the lovely neighbourhood of Trastevere. There, Raphael painted a new masterpiece: \u201c<\/span>The Triumph of Galatea<\/i><\/b>\u201d, from the \u201cMetamorphosis\u201d by Ovid. Everything is redolent of antiquity. <\/span><\/p>\n

Among the countless works painted by Raphael, it is deserved to underline the beautiful \u201c<\/span>Madonna Sistina<\/i><\/b>\u201d (1512-13, Dresden State Art Museum) with its iconic, gentle angels; the \u201c<\/span>Madonna della Seggiola<\/i><\/b>\u201d (1513-15, Pitti Palace, Florence) with its exotic turban which will influence <\/span>Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres<\/b> in \u201cLa Grande Odalisque\u201d; the \u201c<\/span>Madonna dell\u2019Impannata<\/i><\/b>\u201d (1513-15, Pitti Palace, Florence).<\/span><\/p>\n

Amidst all this work to do, Raphael had the time to hang out with a lot of \u201c<\/span>madonnas<\/span><\/i>\u201d, but profane, in this case. His favourite one was the popular <\/span>Margherita Luti<\/b>, better known as <\/span>La Fornarina<\/b>, because she was the daughter of a \u201c<\/span>fornaio<\/span><\/i>\u201d (baker). Insatiable, Raphael accepted to work again in Villa Farnese around 1517 only if he could have close to him, 24 hours per day, the beautiful Fornarina. <\/span><\/p>\n

The last great feats on which Raphael decided to embark were the splendid \u201c<\/span>Loggia Vaticana<\/i><\/b>\u201d and the \u201c<\/span>Cartoons for the<\/i><\/b> Vaticans Tapestries<\/i><\/b>\u201d for the Sistine Chapel. Extremely rich (at his death, he left 16.000 ducats and the lavish Palazzo Caprini in Borgo), engaged since 1514 with Maria Bibbiena , Cardinal Bibbiena\u2019s niece, Raphael\u2019s last masterpiece was the magnificent \u201c<\/span>Transfiguration<\/i><\/b>\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

According to Giorgio Vasari, Raphael died because off \u201c<\/span>exhaustion brought on by unceasing romantic interests\u201d.<\/span><\/i> Marcantonio Michiel wrote in 1520 simply that he died because off \u201c<\/span>fever<\/span><\/i>\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Trasfigurazione\"He was immediately buried in the Pantheon, a great honour for the Prince of the Renaissance who was a painter, an architect and a trendsetter of the Cinquecento. <\/span><\/p>\n

Baldassare Castiglione<\/b> \u2013 portraid by Raphael around 1514 (Louvre, Paris) \u2013 described in his \u201c<\/span>Courtier<\/span><\/i>\u201d an ideal man imbued with elegance, beauty, wisdom; who should make a good first impression, who should have moderation and not affectation, who should have the \u201c<\/span>sprezzatura<\/span><\/i>\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201c<\/span>sprezzatura<\/span><\/i>\u201d was a studied negligence, a middle-way between casualness and over-seriousness. It\u2019s art which conceals art. It\u2019s breaking the rules but knowing it. It\u2019s a nonchalance without efforts and without thoughts. Raphael perfectly embodied the \u201cCourtier\u201d described by Baldassare Castiglione. In his efforts of restoration of the ancient Rome, Raphael was worried about the situation of the ruins and the ancient buildings of the past, but never showed his troubles: he lived his life simply as a perfect <\/span>Prince<\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n

RAPHAEL\u2019S TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS AND GUIDED TOURS<\/b><\/p>\n

After Leonardo, it is Raphael\u2019s round!<\/span><\/p>\n

A lot of temporary exhibitions are planned for this year around Italy and the world to celebrate the Revenant artist of the ancient Rome, the Prince of the Renaissance, the elegant Courtier described by Baldassare Castiglione.<\/span><\/p>\n

A list of the most important temporary exhibitions that you should not miss in 2020:<\/span><\/p>\n