Sublime Poetry: The Met Presents First U.S. Raphael Retrospective

Renaissance titan Raphael, who died at the age of 37, left an outsized legacy in the history of art for one so young. It’s surprising that “Raphael: Sublime Poetry,” which opens March 29 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met), in New York City, and runs through June 28, marks the first comprehensive U.S. retrospective of the master’s work. For an artist synonymous with the pinnacle of High Renaissance art and architecture, the honor feels long overdue.

The fact that Raffaello di Giovanni Santi (Italian, 1483–1520) is known simply as Raphael acknowledges that this 15th-century artist has reached iconic status along with other giants of art history such as Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and Picasso. Raphael’s short life overlapped two other Masters of the Renaissance— Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452–1519) and Michaelangelo (Italian, 1475–1564), both of whom were older and lived longer than Raphael. This gave them a greater opportunity to produce more work in the fields of painting, architecture and design—creative arenas in which they all competed.

Leaving a Legacy

The U.S. exhibition, which brings together more than 200 of the artist’s greatest masterpieces and rarely seen treasures, offers a groundbreaking look at the brilliance and legacy of Raphael. “The seven-year journey of putting together this exhibition has been an extraordinary chance to reframe my understanding of this monumental artist,” says Carmen Bambach, the Marica F. and Jan T. Vilcek Curator in The Met’s Department of Drawings and Prints. “It’s a thrilling opportunity to engage with his unique artistic personality through the visual power, intellectual depth and tenderness of his imagery.”