The Raphael exhibition in Vienna

29.12.2017 ♦

♦

What: Raphael exhibition
Where: Albertina, Vienna

The Albertina in Vienna. Here, you can see the great Raphael exhibition until the 7th of January 2018

Fans of art need to hurry: Only until January 7, 2018, the most significant exhibition of this exceptional Italian artist to date can be seen in the Albertina in Vienna. With around 130 drawings and 18 paintings, the exhibition brings together all of Raphael’s most important works: from the early Umbrian period (until 1504) through the years in Florence (1504-1508) to the Roman period (1508-1520), there are impressive works to look at from all creative phases. They are intended to explain Raphael’s meticulous thinking and working processes, from initial idea sketches to detailed and compositional studies and finally to the final painting. His masterful drawings alone made him one of the greatest draughts men of art history.

The Madonna with the Christ Child seating on a stone balustrade

Together with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo – whom he both worshiped – Raphael (1483-1520) is the great triumvirate of the Renaissance. Raphael, who was born as Raphaelo Santi in Urbino in 1483 and died in Rome in 1520 at the age of only 37, is considered a true universal genius. Whether as a painter and architect in Florence and Rome (inter alia as the site manager of St. Peter’s Basilica) or commissioned by popes and princes. Raphael’s drawings were already collected during his lifetime and are still considered to be a valuable treasure for important collectors. The founder of the Albertina, Duke Albert of Sachsen-Teschen owned more than 50 Raphael drawings alone.

Cecilie in front of a miniature model: The painted papal apartments of the Vatican Palace as a model version give an idea of the size and scope of individual commissioned works by Raphael

Numerous works from the Albertina collection and loans from world-famous museums, including the Uffizi Gallery, the Louvre, the Vatican Museums and the Royal Collection of British Queen Elizabeth II illustrate the work of Raphael, who was always in search of the balance between nature imitation and ideal picture.

Ranking among the most beautiful portrait drawings of the Renaissance is Raphael’s portrait of this graceful youth from 1503

According to Albertina director Klaus Albrecht Schröder after the shows about Van Gogh and Michelangelo, the chronologically designed exhibition is the third most expensive in the history of the Albertina. And – in my opinion – a ‘must-see’ for every art fan. BvH

I particularly like the red-blue color concept of the exhibition rooms

Raphael is one of the most important masters of art history alongside Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo

The portrait of this comely young man shows the eminent banker and art-loving patron Bindo Altoviti in his early twenties and was formerly wrongly considered to be a self-portrait of Raphael

Raphael’s first self-portrait from 1506

Detailed red-chalk sheet of the Cumaean Sibyl

The Madonna dell ‘ Impannata painted on behalf of Bindo Altoviti. The painting was specially restored for the exhibition, which is why the colors are so expressive