Papal Majesty at the V & A: Raphael’s Cartoons and Vatican Tapestries.

I've recently been down in London attending exhibitions and symposia.

One exhibition that I was determined to see was the Raphael show at the V&A which unites the artist's gouache cartoons with four of the tapestries from the Vatican. Commissioned by the Medici pope, Leo X, the cartoons were used by Flemish weavers to create the tapestries, probably for both acoustical and propaganda purposes in the Sistine Chapel. The tapestries were first displayed in the Sistine Chapel in 1519, and there have been subsequent reconstructions in later years, notably 1983. The current unification of cartoons and tapestries is bathed in modern papal splendor since Pope Benedict XVI has granted their temporary removal from the Vatican for this spectacle.

The thing that struck me about this exhibition was the different media on show. Not only do you get to see the famous Raphael cartoons- hanging in their usual place in the cavernous room allocated for their display in the V & A- but you see four large tapestries, a batch of drawings for the commission from the Louvre and Windsor, the diary of Pope Leo X's master of ceremonies, Paris de Grassis, as well as a beautifully illustrated choir book owned by Leo, a serious connoisseur of music. Last and perhaps least, the exhibition has a model of the Sistine Chapel open to the viewer. Although they've baulked at recreating in miniature the paintings of the chapel, they have reproduced the rood screen and the cosmati paving on the floor of the model. It's a weird feeling to see the Sistine without the glory of its painting though, even if it is a scaled down model.  

Mention should also be made of the detached tapestry borders; these contain Medici motifs such as the famous pala, or medicine pills signifying members of the family, putti or little children, and figures symbolizing the hours and the seasons. It's a rare pleasure to see this combination of aesthetic abandonment and iconographic complexity.

It remains to be seen what exposure the exhibition will get when the Pope flies in on the 16^th of September, but judging by the crowds in the V&A, the public are lapping it up. About six weeks ago, I saw the public's thirst for art in the British Museum where visitors enjoyed a treasure house of renaissance old master drawings. There's that eagerness here as visitors pour over selected drawings by Raphael's pupils such as Penni, Ugo di Carpi and Giovanni di Udine, as well as the master himself, which they are now able to compare directly with the cartoons, presiding high above them on the walls.

There's a handy, inexpensive catalogue that goes with the exhibition. With essays by the director of the V&A, Mark Evans and others, it's a great souvenir with nearly everything in the exhibition illustrated. Being a Raphael nut I had to buy it- yet another volume on my bowing Raphael shelf.

Finally, here's a link to a film and transcript featuring Mark Evans, Arnold Nesselrath (Vatican) and Martin Clayton (Windsor Castle). And there's also a Raphael study day on the 15^th October.

Images

Christ's Charge to Peter, Vatican Tapestry, 1519.

Workshop of Petrus Alamire, choir book, Vatican

Raphael, study for Christ's Charge to Peter, Louvre, about 1515.

Comments

[H Niyazi]

Super stuff David!

My eye was also drawn to the Medici palli - though some writers seem to think they are coins, appropriated from the coat of arms of the Arte del Cambio. Who knows...

I'm also envious of your Raphael shelf... I wish I had such a resource!

Hope your trip went well! Will you be posting about it?

H

[Art History Today]

I'm planning to say a bit about the Salvator Rosa study day in Dulwich last Sat. I went there after the V&A.

Does Christopher Hibbert in his 'House of the Medici', or whatever its called, say any thing about the Medici insignia? I can't recall.

By the way, you might want to check out this new site- http://www.everypainterpaintshimself.com
I've only just been told about it.

David

[H Niyazi]

Cheers for that link David. I'll look into it!

I have the Kindle edition of Hibbert on my smartphone - no Renaissance history blogger should leave home without it!

What it says has been covered in your post and my comment, and adds the fanciful 'shield dents' interpretation, claiming Medici lineage from Averardo, the Knight who fought under Charlemagne. There is nothing more definitive than that unfortunately!

H

[Nike Shox Navina]

Regardless of when, never thought he knew everything. Whether people you how evaluation, but you always have the courage to say to yourself: I am no knowledge of the man

[Stacey Laird]

Thanks so much for covering your journey round exhibits, due to ill health at the moment I'm unable to do as much as it's fantastic to get a running commentary with pictures, Stacey, would have loved to see the tapestries, beautifulx

[Nafhellagycle]

I read about a hundred blog posts a week and i tend to only comment on a few of them, this is 1 of them.