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Starting this Sunday, March 29, The Met is going all in Raphael, in what will be the first comprehensive exhibition of the great master in the U.S.
“Raphael: Sublime Poetry” will be on view through June 28, pulling more than 170 of the Renaissance star’s works from museums and collections around the world. The show follows the artist’s entire career, from early days in Urbino (where he was born in 1483 to a painter-poet father) to his rise in Florence, where his peers were Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, and finally to his years in Rome as the go-to artist for the papal court.
There are heavyweights—like “The Alba Madonna,” which is on loan from the National Gallery of Art, and the Louvre’s “Portrait of Baldassarre Castiglione,” considered one of the finest portraits of the High Renaissance—but the exhibition also sheds light on Raphael’s processes. Finished works are shown alongside preparatory drawings, sketches and studies, giving a glimpse into his obsessive dedication to composition, anatomy and emotion.
That behind-the-scenes angle runs throughout the show, which unfolds chronologically, weaving in themes like his approach to storytelling, his experiments across media (from chalk to tapestry) and his evolving depiction of women, including both idealized Madonnas and more complex figures.
There are also a few noteworthy reunions: the Colonna Altarpiece, for example, is being shown as a complete ensemble for the first time in centuries after its pieces were scattered in the 17th century. Elsewhere, drawings tied to Raphael’s Vatican frescoes (including studies for “The School of Athens”) show how he planned some of the most famous walls in Western art.
Raphael died at just 37, but his influence stuck around for centuries, ultimately shaping everything from court portraiture to architectural design. “The seven-year journey of putting together this exhibition has been an extraordinary chance to reframe my understanding of this monumental artist,” said Carmen Bambach, the Marica F. and Jan T. Vilcek Curator in the Met’s Department of Drawings and Prints, in a release. “It is a thrilling opportunity to engage with his unique artistic personality through the visual power, intellectual depth, and tenderness of his imagery.”
In other words: if you’re going to do Raphael, this is how you do it.