Share
spinner-caricamento

National Gallery of the Marche – Ducal Palace of Urbino verified

Urbino, Marche, Italy open Visit museumarrow_right_alt

closed On the line of Raphael

Curated by: Anna Cerboni Baiardi, Nello Forti Grazzini

The show

The National Gallery of the Marche, in collaboration with the Vatican Museums and the Mobilier National of Paris, organizes, in the Ducal Palace of Urbino, an exhibition dedicated to Raphael and the world of tapestries, investigating both the contribution that the painter provided in this specific sector for which he experimented with inventions and made cartoons then woven in Flemish workshops, both the fortune that Raphael's works had over the centuries in the production of tapestries. With twelve grandiose pieces woven in the best European tapestries, mainly depicting the paintings of the Vatican Rooms, Urbino will be able to exhibit, in the majestic hall of the Throne, all the monumental pictorial work of its most illustrious citizen, the power and the classical balance that Raphael achieved in Rome, about 25 years after leaving his hometown. The spaces where Raphael had walked as a child accompanied by his father Giovanni Santi will welcome - in the aftermath of the 500th anniversary of the death of the divine painter and accomplices of the tapestries - his most grandiose work, created in Rome for the popes, appreciated by artists, critics, connoisseurs and tourists of all ages.
The success achieved by the woven images, re-proposed in different times and manufactures, enters fully into the theme of fortune that the artist from Urbino knew over the centuries. An approval that is an integral part of the overall consensus that Raphael reached while he was still alive. Inexhaustible models of forms and inventions, Raphael's works reached the most disparate contexts, thanks to the work of so many engravers who with their carvings allowed them to be rapidly spread. Raphael had offered his fundamental contribution to the diffusion of engraving practices with which he had guaranteed considerable publicity; the engraving would have paid off over the centuries making him the most translated author of all time. In fact, the same thing happened with tapestries: his cartoons ennobled this artistic genre which, later on, would contribute to the consolidation and enrichment of his fortune.
The Urbino exhibition follows the research concerning the irradiation of Sanzio's work, verifying its fortune in the specific field of tapestry. The viewer will have a spectacular view upon entering the throne room of Federico di Montefeltro's palace: thanks to the set-up curated by the architects of the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, he will find the famous frescoes that Raphael created in Rome, here proposed in the colors and in the intertwining of textures. Eleven of the tapestries on display come from the Mobilier National in Paris and testify how France, more than any other country, under the reign of Louis XIV (but then until the nineteenth century), had a real veneration towards Raphael, the to conceive the "crazy" project of recreating as a tapestry in Paris, in several replicas, the most famous frescoes of Urbinate, using - for this purpose - on the one hand the French painters of the French Academy residing in Rome to copy from the I live the prototypes, on the other hand the extraordinary skill of the tapestry makers framed by Colbert under the aegis of the Gobelins manufactory, opened in Paris and active exclusively for royal commissions, where many of the tapestries were woven.
The National Gallery of the Marche has contributed not only to the knowledge of this refined art, but also to the conservation of the precious fabrics by financially supporting the restoration of some of the pieces lent by the Mobilier National in Paris. The entire study underlying the exhibition, with a broad overview of the production of tapestries linked to the Raphaelesque universe, is exhibited in an exhaustive manner in the rich catalog, edited by Anna Cerboni Baiardi and Nello Forti Grazini, published by Silvana Editoriale.

Works on display

Timetable and tickets

Address

Piazza Rinascimento 13
61029 Urbino

Contacts

Discounts and prices’ reductions with the Artsupp Card

With the Artsupp Card you can get, for the first time, discounts and reduced entrance tickets for Italian museums .

Discover more

More on the program

date_range undefined undefined

The other collection

Until 05 May 2024

date_range undefined undefined

FEDERICO BAROCCI URBINO

Until 06 October 2024


What you can find on Artsupp

Artsupp is the museums’ portal through which it’s easy to discover art, exhibitions and artworks. Now museums in France, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain can also share their activities with users

About us