An exhibit at the Venaria
museum near Turin, exploring the Renaissance painter Raphael's
extraordinary influence on decorative arts, opened its doors
last Thursday.
Nine original works by Raphael (1483-1520) and 130 pieces
of decorative arts reflecting his legacy are on show at the
exhibition Raffaello, Sole delle Arti (Raphael, Sun of the
Arts), which will remain open through January 24.
Raphael's paintings inspired a rich production of
tapestries, glass work, engravings, ceramics, silver and gold,
which saw his influence carried on through techniques used even
after his death.
The show, curated by Gabriele Barucca and Sylvia Perino
along with a scientific committee chaired by Vatican Museums
Director Antonio Paolucci, was inspired by the restoration of a
tapestry, The Miraculous Catch, located at the Venaria Museum.
The 1520 tapestry depicts the famous episode in the New
Testament in which Jesus instructs the apostle Peter to cast his
net one last time - an effort that yields an enormous haul of
fish after a previously fruitless night of effort.
The tapestry was woven in Brussels based on designs made by
Raffaello for frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. The mock-ups now
belong to the Tesoro della Santa Casa di Loreto.
The first kernel of the idea for the exhibit was to compare
five different tapestries available using the same subject, one
of which was provided by the Royal Palace of Madrid. From there
the idea was expanded to illustrate Raphael's wider influence
throughout the decorative arts, both during and after his life,
but the five tapestries appear in a coup de theater at end to
the exhibit.
A paradigmatic example is the painting The Vision of
Ezekiel, on loan from the Pitti Palace. It was copied in a
drawing by Rubens and in a tapestry for the canopy of the bed
for Pope Leo X.
''This is the element that permitted Raphael to arrive to
us as the artist who revolutionized western figurative imagery.
A matter that, along with the theme of duplicates, arrives all
the way to the art of today,'' said Barucca.
Fans of Raphael will be struck by the first room, where his
original works are gathered along with some by his father,
Giovanni Santi, who died when Raphael was just 11 years old.
Santi opened the doors of the Ducal Palace in Urbino to his son
by introducing him to the great Renaissance masters. One of the
nine works to be shown - Angel - is currently at the Pinacoteca
Tosio Martinengo in Brescia, but will join the exhibition at the
end of Milan Expo 2015.
The exhibit cost about 750,000 euros to put on. Turin Mayor
Piero Fassino said the city of Turin invests 100 million euros
each year in culture, a quarter of which comes from private
sources.
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