“Raphael portrayed the sentiments of fervent love, hope, sweetness, loveliness, gentleness, desire, order, lust, universal beauty, warning, and all-encompassing grandeur, conveying the divinity and majesty in everything.”

This exquisite, informative book serves as a complement to the Scuderie del Quirinale’s major exhibition/tribute to Raphael, the most comprehensive exhibition ever realized about the artist and one of the most significant ever held in Italy. Created in collaboration with the Scuderie del Quirinale and the Uffizi on the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death, it offers a broad selection of stunning works by the “divin pittore” of Urbino.

The exhibition Raphael 1520-1483 traces the entire creative life of the greatest painter of the Renaissance according to an original backwards chronology, from Rome to Florence, from Florence to Umbria, ending with his early days in Urbino. The accompanying book, curated by Marzia Faietti and Matteo Lafranconi, along with a host of scholars specializing in diverse sectors, and coordinated by an international scientific committee headed by Sylvia Ferino-Pagden, provides a vision of Raphael as a consummate Renaissance man, committed to seeking and defending beauty and harmony in all of his activities, from painting to performing his duties as Prefect of Antiquities for papal Rome.

The book contains an impressive selection of works from major Italian and international museums and collections, with original works by the artist along with others inspired by him, in the form of paintings, cartoons, drawings, tapestries, and architectural projects. Images of ancient sculptures and objects, Renaissance sculptures, codices, documents, and masterpieces of applied arts are interspersed throughout to provide contrast and context, and of course, also appearing are world-famous paintings such as Madonna del Granduca and Woman with a Veil from the Uffizi, the magnificent St Cecilia altarpiece from the Pinacoteca di Bologna, Alba Madonna from the National Gallery of Washington, Madonna of the Rose from the Prado and the extraordinary, iconic Portrait of Baldassarre Castiglione from the Louvre.

The book features commentaries by Marzia Faietti, Matteo Lafranconi, Francesco P. Di Teodoro, Arnold Nesselrath, Alessandro Viscogliosi, Vincenzo Farinella, Sylvia Ferino-Pagden, Guido Cornini, Lucia Bertolini, Angelamaria Aceto, Achim Gnann, Alessandro Nova, Silvia Malaguzzi, Marco Ciatti, Oriana Sartiani, Ciro Castelli, Luciano Ricciardi, and Andrea Santacesaria, in addition to the catalogue and technical entries about the works.