Raphael - National Gallery May 2022
The ticket price of £24 for eight rooms of the boy wonder from Urbino, may seem steep. It is steep, I know because you can pick and choose the entry time that suits. Theres no queuing, no children running around, no craning the neck to see the detail. This is an adults only kind of a show. One of the rooms contains nothing but a succession of Madonna and Child themed paintings. Laugh a minute it aint.
Raphael is a surprising artist. The School Of Athens in the Vatican has to be one of the most stunning walls of art Ive ever seen. It is reproduced here, with useful information provided to help you pick out Euclid from Plato. The huge murals’ colours looks bland compared to some of the stunning oil paintings you have previously encountered. Not least in room 1, containing a joyous row of small but bright and joyous early works, from 1502 - 1506. He was spotted in his teens and was moving on towards Rome and the patronage of the Pope in his twenties. Arriving in time to contribute massive tapestries designed to hang below Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. Some of the designs are here, as is a cartoon and tapestry.
There are a
host of gorgeous pictures throughout. King Arthur standing on a monster in a
bizarre tableau inspired by Dante. A fabulous, albeit corny, depiction of
earths’ music being defeated by the sound of heaven. Instruments lie smashed on
the ground in front of a few musicians, in the hand of a woman the pipes of a
small organ fall to earth. The portraits of some of his girlfriends, such as La Fornarina above, glow in an
incredible light, with fabulous blues and oranges used to give the clothing
material a super sheen.
There is an
informative film showing his architectural prowess in Rome, starting with a
chapel in Piazza del Popolo, and progressing to ever more incredible designs as
the budgets ballooned.
He was struck
down at just 37, but boy did he get through a lot. If you haven’t been to the
Raphael Rooms at the Vatican, this sober but perfectly pitched show, may inspire
you to go.
