translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville,
160712: Museo Nacional del Prado El ultimo Rafae
Museo Nacional del Prado
El ultimo Rafael
12.06.2012 – 16.09.2012
Raphael was not a lone genius
By Clementine Klügler
Apart from Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Titian, Raphael belongs to the stars of the Italian Renaissance. When the master from Urbino died in 1520 aged only 37 years, he left an extensive collection whose culmination occurred in Rome under the aegis of the art-appreciating Pope, Leo X. Then as now, the original was coveted. Per la mano di maestro was highly prized and desired by the commissioner when he could afford it.
Raphael created and painted large-format altarpieces and portraits for popes and cardinals, prepared frescoes for the Vatican, was responsible for sketching the blueprints of tapestries for the Sistine Chapel, was construction supervisor of St. Peter's cathedral and conservationist for antique monuments and archaeological excavations in Rome. It would not have been possible to have coped with the many facets and the flood of orders without a well-organized workshop.
Vasari attested that Raphael had up to 50 helpers – that was the largest workshop of the times. Then what is an original? In Raphael's case, the majority of the works are collective efforts. And that's what the exhibition in the Prado is all about – about the roles of his most important pupils, Gianfrancesco Penni and Giulio Romano – and also about the proof, based on the drawings and blueprints, of how much the master himself determined the construction and questions of detail in each work.
Penni and Romano play a significant role. Following Raphael's early death, both inherited the materials, orders and unfinished pictures. Giulio Romano was almost like a son to the master as can be seen from the pupil's famous "Self-portrait with a Friend". Both painters designed their own paintings in parallel in the workshop but their names only became known after Raphael's death.
The Prado and the Louvre are the museums that own the majority of Raphael's pictures. They have worked sequentially to accomplish the shows, and the completed works of his pupils up to 1525, during the past year. In addition, loans from all over the world have been added: altogether, 74 pictures and drawings, albeit only from the years 1513 to 1525.
Some of the most beautiful works have been gathered, from the madonnas and altarpieces to the portraits and the large-format "Transfiguration of Jesus". For the first time, Bologna has lent the "Holy Cecilia" (Pinacoteca Nazionale). She hangs right beside the "Madonna with the Fish" and the restored "Fall on the Road to Calvary" (both Prado). Heroic, the "Holy Michael" (Louvre) interacts in the great portrayals. Some attributions may be questionable for the observer. Often, only the main figure comes from Raphael's hand; occasionally, it's the blueprint alone, which is dated by the master ("John the Baptist", Uffizi). Giulio Romano's sovereignty is singled out in its own room.
Influences of the contemporaries can be felt and are fully indexed in the extensive catalogue: Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer and Lucas von Leyden, Hieronymus Bosch, Michelangelo, and Titian.
The highlight is without doubt the portraits. Here are commissions, possibly again cardinals and patrons painted by Giulio Romano ("Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena" from the Pitti Palace and "Giuliano de Medici" from the Metropolitan Museum), besides private portraits of friends of Raphael: Baldassare Castiglione (Louvre), the lascivious banker, Bindo Altoviti (Washington, National Gallery) and above all, the famous "Self-Portrait with Giulio Romano" from the Louvre, which portrays a somewhat exhausted Raphael.
As Tom Henry and Paul Joannides, the curators of the exhibition, note in the catalogue, out of all the contemporary creators Raphael took the creative lead: "Raphael was not a lone genius".
Museo Nacional del Prado
28014 Madrid, Paseo Prado
Tel: +34 91 330 28 00
E-mail: museo.nacional@museodelprado.es
http://www.museodelprado.es/
Opening times: Mon-Sat 10-20 hours, Sun and public holidays 10-19 hours
Mehr Texte von translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville
160712
Museo Nacional del Prado
28014 Madrid, Paseo Prado
Tel: +34 91 330 28 00
Email: museo.nacional@museodelprado.es
http://www.museodelprado.es/
Öffnungszeiten: Mo-Sa 10-20h, So & Feiertage 10-19h
Museo Nacional del Prado
28014 Madrid, Paseo Prado
Tel: +34 91 330 28 00
Email: museo.nacional@museodelprado.es
http://www.museodelprado.es/
Öffnungszeiten: Mo-Sa 10-20h, So & Feiertage 10-19h