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London's not short of other-worldly art spaces, from the grandeur of Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall to the brutalist beauty of 180 Strand to the intimate calm of Sir John Soane’s Museum. But now the capital might have a new contender for Most Beautiful Art Space: the Raphael Court at the V&A.
The Raphael Court isn’t new, mind you, it’s just had a protracted and no-expense-spared refurb, so it’s looking super-elegant. The space houses the Raphael Cartoons. These do not feature philosophising dogs or rude things; they are the giant preparatory sketches done by Renaissance master Raphael (aka the Ninja Turtle you can never remember) for a series of ten huge tapestries commissioned by the then pope to hang in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Each drawing on paper is about five metres long by three-and-a-half metres high, the same size as the completed tapestries. They were brought to London in the seventeenth century and are part of the Royal Collection. Queen Victoria lent them to the V&A in 1865, and they have been on display ever since.
Last year was the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death, and to mark it, the V&A planned a huge overhaul of the Raphael Court – not just the decoration and lighting, but also the way the works were displayed and how visitors interacted with them. Of course, everything then got put on hold, but now we can see the reimagined gallery in all its glory.
Almost exactly the same dimensions as the Sistine Chapel, the V&A’s Raphael Court now has brilliantly sombre dark blue walls, with illumination coming from the barrel-vaulted roof and new LED lighting. The museum has also commissioned a detailed digital scan of the cartoons, revealing their colours and half a millennium of damage, repairs and ageing of their surface. The digital versions of the works are also available to visitors to see.
So if you’re feeling starved of spiritual nourishment, this could be a good place to get in a bit of secular worship.
The Raphael Court will reopen along with the rest of the V&A on May 19. Free, book in advance online.
How suggestible are you? Thinking about pizza now?