The current show at America’s greatest museum, Raphael: Sublime Poetry, will run through June 28th of this year. As with most major exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, curators have gathered works by the artist from museums around the world – and in this case, not just by Raphael. There are 237 works in total, including 33 paintings, 142 drawings, some monumental tapestries, and some sculptural work, too.
In remarks before the show’s opening, principal curator Carmen Bambach said that, whereas many consider him third on the list of Renaissance masters, she “could make the argument that Raphael is every bit the equal of Leonardo and Michelangelo.” After spending eight years pulling together the exhibit, I doubt she could say anything else. In any case, Raphael was a superb artist, and the show is stunning.
I wonder, though, if most people could name a Raphael painting. Asked about da Vinci, many could name “The Last Supper” and certainly the “Mona Lisa.” And about Michelangelo, the Sistine Chapel ceiling or one of his sculptures, the “David” or “Pietà” perhaps. Of course, visitors who’ve toured the Vatican Museum and seen the Raphael Rooms would certainly remember those extraordinary frescoes.
But Ms.
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