Rome to Host the Biggest Raphael Show in History

Roberta Cutillo (February 27, 2020)

500 years from the artist’s death, Rome’s Scuderie del Quirinale and Florence’s Uffizi Gallery collaborate on creating the most extensive exhibition dedicated to one of the most important artists of the Italian Renaissance, bringing together works never before exhibited together.

If 2019 was all about celebrating the 500th anniversary of Leonardo Da Vinci’s death, 2020 will be dedicated to Raphael’s. Museums and institutions across Italy and beyond are holding initiatives in honor of the celebrated Renaissance artist from Urbino, who passed away on April 6, 1520 in Rome at the age of 37.

Among these initiatives is the biggest monographic exhibition ever held on the artist, which will take place in Rome’s Scuderie del Quirinale [2]from March 6th through June 2nd. The show will feature over 200 works including paintings and sketches as well as comparison works.

"It is the largest exhibit ever organized on Raphael", commented Mario De Simoni, the President and CEO of the Scuderie del Quirinale, who collaborated with Florence's Uffizi Gallery to bring this ambitious project to life.

The Florentine museum will be sending over several masterworks never before displayed in Rome. And over 50 other art institutions contributed to the show, including Rome’s Galleria Borghese, the National Gallery of Ancient Art, Bologna’s Pinacoteca, the Royal Museum of Capodimonte, Naples’ Archaeological Museum, and foreign museums too such as the Vatican Museums, the Louvre, London’s National Gallery, the British Museum, the Prado, Vienna’s Albertina, and the National Gallery of Art in DC.

It took three years of studies and restorations carried out by a team of art historians and curators including Marzia Faietti and Matteo Lanfranconi to realize this massive exhibition, which will include the Madonna del Granduca and Woman with a Veil from the Uffizi, the Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione and Self-Portrait with Friend from the Louvre, and the Madonna of the Rose from the Prado among other priceless masterpieces. Works which have never been gathered in the same place before.

"Never since Raphael's death have so many works returned to Rome," noted the director of the Uffizi Eike Schmidt.

To further mark the collaborative effort between the two Italian institutions, the Uffizi is offering a 33% discount on tickets to those who have visited the show at the Scuderie and vice versa.

So far, the show has raised a great deal of anticipation: despite fear surrounding the coronavirus outbreak in the country, over 70,000 tickets have already been booked or sold online.