Exhibitions Huon Mallalieu
RAPHAEL: THE DRAWINGS
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1st June to 3rd September
The Michelangelo and Sebastiano exhibition, at the National Gallery until 25th June, includes correspondence between the two artists that shows how they combined and schemed to do down Michelangelo’s great rival, Raphael.
What is being billed as ‘a once in a generation’ exhibition at the Ashmolean should give us the opportunity to see what they were up against. As Dr Xa Sturgis, the museum’s director, says, ‘Not since 1983, when an exhibition of drawings from British collections was on view at the British Museum, has such an extraordinary gathering of Raphael drawings been shown to the public. The generosity of lenders and supporters has enabled us to give people the opportunity to experience the visual and emotive power of Raphael’s hand, and of understanding Raphael’s genius.’
There will be 120 drawings in all, 50 from the Ashmolean itself, 25 from the Albertina in Vienna and the remainder from international collections, including ‘The Head of a Muse’ (private collection) which broke the records when auctioned at Christie’s in 2009. The Ashmolean’s holdings came from the superb collection of Sir Thomas Lawrence, dispersed in 1845 and purchased after a public appeal. The exhibition will highlight new research on a core group of drawings following investigation by the Ashmolean’s conservation team.
The drawings cover Raphael’s brief but brilliant career, from early days in Umbria, through radically creative years in Florence, to Rome. There he worked, at the height of his powers, on major projects such as the frescos in the Vatican’s Stanze (‘rooms’), next door to the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo was painting.
The exhibition aims to transform our understanding of Raphael through a focus on the immediacy and expressiveness of his drawing. He often investigated and refined ideas through the process and materials of drawing in ways that were more subtle or more adventurous than they might appear from his paintings.
Just look at his nuanced portrayal of a youthful saint (c. 1505–7), which evokes not only a sculptural form, but an enigmatic, brooding character. Similarly, the breathtakingly accomplished red chalk folds that encircle and cling to the Madonna, in the ‘Studies for the Madonna of Francis I’ (c 1518), were expressive details that would not translate to the final painting.
But the act of making such elaborate drawings enabled Raphael to reflect deeply on the subject and its significance. He was fully aware of the expressive potential of different drawing mediums, including charcoal, earthy chalks, ink and metalpoint.