The National Galleries of Ancient Art announce an important exchange: Raffaello 's Fornarina left for the National Gallery in London , for the exhibition The Credit Suisse Exhibition: Raphael , curated by Matthias Wivel, scheduled from 12 April to 31 July 2022, the Lady with the Squirrel , a masterpiece, arrives from the same museum by Hans Holbein .

The London exhibition, one of the most important dedicated to Raphael, postponed by two years due to the pandemic, is an unprecedented opportunity to get to know Raphael ; in fact, the exhibition wants to tell him not only as a painter, but also through his architectural projects, poetic experiments, sculpture and tapestries.

"The exchange between the National Galleries of Ancient Art and the National Gallery of London represents for us a great opportunity for growth and knowledge", says Flaminia Gennari Santori , Director of the Barberini Corsini National Galleries: "The promotion abroad of our cultural heritage , with the possibility of hosting an equally important masterpiece in our Galleries, is one of the strategic directions of my work which aims to make culture ever more universal and shared ”.

The Lady with the Squirrel ( Anne Lovell? ), Datable to 1526-1528, will be placed side by side in Room 16 dedicated to the portraits from two paintings of the National Galleries referable more or less directly to Holbein or his entourage: the Portrait of Henry VII I and the lesser known and never exhibited Portrait of Sir Thomas More , copy of the famous original now kept in the Frick Collection in New York and also datable to 1527.

The close comparison, in addition to a philological interest in studying the making and autography of the paintings, also intends to focus on other different functional and "ideological" aspects related to the theme of the portrait, both official and private, as it is explored. in peculiar terms by Hans Holbein, particularly during his stay at the Tudor court. It will also be an opportunity to thematize the relationship between the portrait image and its memorial, diplomatic, celebratory, biographical and affective functions.