Art in review by Ellis Pullen. The Raphael Exhibition: The National Gallery, open until 31st July 2022

If you are a fan of Renaissance Art, then this is definitely an exhibition you should take time to go and see. It is sizeable (eight rooms in total, and it took about an hour – ninety minutes to walk around in total). When I visited we looked at each piece of artwork in detail, and in particular loved the fact that with the corresponding brochure, there was the same copy explaining each painting that you often see on a plaque to the right-hand side. This made it so much easier to digest the information given, and also meant that you could sit and take in the beauty of the artwork whilst reading about its history, and not have to crowd around the tiny plaque, that has ten other members of the public trying to read it too, giving you the elbow every few seconds as you’ve either been there too long or are blocking their view. 

The journey through his artwork began at the beginning of his story, and each room was essentially a new era or moment within his career. I loved the fact that it flowed chronologically as you could see how he was learning and adapting, and also how some of the other great artists at that time influenced his work too. Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Donatello each had their own style of artwork, and Raphael was a master at obtaining as much information and new ways of working as possible, that he essentially became a prodigy of all three. In particular, his iconic ‘School of Athens’ painting was incredible (although at this exhibition it was a printed copy – the main painting is in the Raphael Room in the Vatican Museum in Vatican City), whereby he had actually inserted himself, Da Vinci and Michelangelo into the art piece, cementing their place in time. 

Raphael was such an incredible artist who did so much in such a short life. Raphael was only 37 years old when he died in 1520, and yet within his career he worked for not one but two Popes, and also was the first architect to work on St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City. In the first room at the gallery you see a self-portrait of Raphael, and this was an unusual painting as self-portraits are usually painted when the artist is much older. However, a credit to his expertise, and also a reflection on his short life, Raphael’s self-portrait was of him as a young man, and you can clearly see the tenderness in his face, which he replicated across his Madonna and child paintings as he made his way through his career. 

One thing to note during his career was that as he progressed, you could see him making use of the Tondo paintings (circular canvas). Using Tondo canvases was often saved for private clients, and Raphael’s artwork was commissioned by a number of noblemen during his time in Florence. Utilising the Tondo paintings in full was a clear demonstration of his progression as an artist, as in his early career aspects of his art were cut off or un-finished due to the circular style of the canvas. However, as time went on he learns to use the circle to his advantage, and began to position individuals at angles, so that they jumped out of the paintings more and you could see them in their full selves. This is again yet another demonstration of how Raphael learnt from other artists around him, and not only copied the ways in which they worked, but made them better. 

Overall I would highly recommend this exhibition to anyone who wants to spend a day out in London and immerse themselves in Renaissance culture. In some rooms of the exhibition there were intimate corners where you could escape and just take in the art. You could sit there for hours and feel as though you were the only one in the room. Also my favourite part of the whole exhibition was the studies and sketches, and how you could see how a final painting was brought to life following a series of working drawings, to practice before the final version was created. It really gave insights into what artists think and the process they need to go through in order to get to the finished product, which as someone who doesn’t paint I found fascinating.