Renaissance master Raphael honored at New York's Met museum

Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and now Raphael: New York's prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art is dedicating a retrospective to the third of the great masters of the Italian Renaissance.

The exhibition opening Sunday traces Raffaello di Giovanni Santi's journey, from his training in his native city of Urbino, in central Italy, to the papal court in Rome before his death in 1520 at age 37. 

Highlights include the first painting he completed entirely on his own, as well as tapestries designed for the Sistine Chapel. 

Carmen Bambach, a specialist in the Italian Renaissance, curated 175 works by Raphael for the first major exhibition devoted to the painter in the United States.

"If we only look at his paintings, we see this supreme, sublime beauty and perfection," she told AFP. 

By placing them side by side with his preparatory drawings, visitors can better understand Raphael's creative process. 

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"They're very intimate. We really seem to be right there looking over his shoulder and seeing him try out things," Bambach said. 

She noted that the human figures depicted by Raphael served as "the model for 300 years" for generations of artists.

Italian-American actress Isabella Rossellini lends her voice to an audio guide for the exhibition, which brings together works from museums including France's Louvre. 

"Raphael: Sublime Poetry" runs through June 28, 2026.

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