Indagine su Raffaello

On the occasion of the forthcoming 500th anniversary of the death of Raphael, the Italian Cultural Institute celebrates this great artist. The Institute organises a series of talks with curators, artists, and critics, both Italian and British, and a photography exhibition to explore the connections between Raphael’s art and the contemporary era. Find here below the November appointments.

Investigation on Raphael #1

Art historian Ben Thomas (co-curator of the recent exhibition of Raphael’s drawings at the Ashmolean Museum and at the Albertina of Vienna) and curator and critic Maria Alicata deepen the connections between Raphael’s drawings, crucial point of his production, and drawings of contemporary artists, such as Giosetta Fioroni in Italy and Jenny Saville, Stephen Farthing and Humphrey Ocean in the UK.

Investigation on Raphael #2

What could be the relation between Italian artist Piero Manzoni and Raphael? Which are the elements that allow art to survive the artist himself? Andrea Cortellessa and Ana Debenedetti will discuss the influence of these two artists – one, prominent figure of the 19th century Italian vanguard, the other, key figure of Italian Renaissance – on Art History, despite their brief lives.

Enquiry on Raphael #3
Facing the Camera: Exhibition Opening

One of Raphael’s most famous works, “Portrait of Andrea Navagero and Agostino Beazzano“ of 1516, is the starting point of this exhibition, dedicated to the contemporary Italian photographic portrait of the last 50 years.
The protagonists of all the pictures in the exhibition look straight into the camera, just like the two characters of Raphael’s double portrait look beyond the painter. The result is that of a still gaze on the spectator, which places photographer and subject on the same level and leads to “what Freud would have called the profound”, to quote critic Francesco Zanot, author of the essay at the beginning of the exhibition’s catalogue.

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