Place: Parade halls of the Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts 17 University Embankment, St. Petersburg

On October 6, 2008 the Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts will present an exhibition from its holdings entitled Canon of Beauty According to Raphael (Age of Raphael and Russian Art School). It has been arranged in collaboration with the Consulate General in St. Petersburg and Italian Institute of Culture in St. Petersburg in honor of Raphael’s 525th birth anniversary and the 250th anniversary of the Museum.

The show highlights over one hundred the 18th -19th century painted and pencil replicas of original works by Raphael and his contemporaries: Perugino, Andrea del Sarto, Mariotto Albertinelli, Franciabigio; prints of European and Russian schools reproducing the most renowned works by this great master of the High Renaissance; remarkable watercolors by Russian architects painted in Italy where they perfected their skills (F. Richter, A. Tomishko, M. Panafidin, G. Grimm and E. Bakh copied the interiors of Villa Madama in Rome).

For better comprehension of Raphael’s age, on display are unique cork models of Rome antique monuments, including the Pantheon and triumph arches. Commissioned by Catherine the Great and produced in Antonio Chichi workshop, they perfectly portray the image of the eternal city, its buildings and monuments admired by Raphael.

No other representative of the Renaissance has become for the Russian art school so influential on the perfection and deep penetration into the ancient masterpieces as Raphael Santi. The exhibition will be an unparalleled opportunity to appreciate the high quality of replicas made in real size by talented Russian painters Karl Bryullov, Fedor Bruni, T. Goretski, M. Markov, A. Markov and others. The copying of masterpieces by renowned artists of the past, first and foremost by Raphael, has been one of the principle disciplines in the Imperial Academy of Arts. For the first time on display will be the 18th century copies of such Raphael’s originals as Three Graces and Madonna with Goldfinch. There will be a special section devoted to the Russian artists’ exploration of frescoes in the Farnesina, Rome.

The exhibition will be supported by guided excursions and two documentary films: “The Vatican and the Papal Palace”; “The Sistine Chapel. Stanze and Loggie by Raphael”.

Event source: http://www.rah.ru/content/en/exhibition-2008-10-07-16-43-02.html

Print this news