Landmark Raphael exhibition opening at National Gallery

Booking has opened for the much anticipated Credit Suisse exhibition, Raphael at the National Gallery, from 9 April to 31 July. Eight rooms will display more than 90 exhibits covering his wide ranging career.

Dr Matthias Wivel one of the curators, said: "We are delighted that following its delay because of Covid, we are now able to stage this exhibition which marks the 500th anniversary of Raphael's death in 2020, and is the first-ever outside Italy to explore the complete career of this key figure in Western art. The Hermitage, the Louvre, National Gallery of Art, Washington, the Prado Museum, Uffizi Museum, the Vatican Museum, and Galleria Doria Pamphilj, are amongst international contributors."

Raphael was the ultimate Renaissance man, achieving a prodigious artistic output in his short life, dying at 37. A celebrated painter, one of the giants of the Renaissance, he was also a skilled draughtsman, architect, archaeologist, and poet.

Born on 6 April 1483 in Urbino, in the Marche region of Italy. His father, Giovanni Santi, was painter to the cultured court of the Montefeltro. Raphael assisted in his father's workshop from an early age and took over as a talented teenager after his father's death. Works from this period include 'The Mond Altarpiece' (1502-03), belonging to The National Gallery, completed when he was about 20.

Around 1504 he relocated to Florence to learn from artists there, Including Leonardo and Michelangelo. Sketches by him after their works, include 'Leda and the Swan (After Leonardo da Vinci)' of about 1505-7is a loan from HM the Queen. His designs became increasingly complex and three-dimensional as can be seen in the pen-and-ink 'The Holy Family with A Pomegranate' 1507-8, lent by the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille. During this period Raphael produced some of his most famous Madonna paintings including 'The Virgin and Child' (The Bridgewater Madonna), 1507-8 from the National Galleries of Scotland, and the National Gallery's own 'Madonna of the Pinks'.

Summoned to Rome in 1508 to work on the redecoration of Pope Julius II's papal apartments in the Vatican, he decorated them with frescoes that embodied the Pope's aspirations as a Renaissance ruler. The School of Athens, Raphael's most famous work and one of the quintessential paintings in the Western tradition represents a gathering across time of the greatest Greek philosophers and natural scientists of antiquity. Raphael painted some of his most famous portraits whilst in Rome. Pope Julius II (1511, belonging to The National Gallery) and his successor Pope Leo X are especially notable. The portrait of his friend Baldassare Castiglione, author, diplomat and thinker was greatly admired by Titian, Rembrandt and Reynolds.

In 1514, on the death of Bramante, the Papal architect and painter, Raphael was made chief architect of the new St Peter's Basilica. He also designed villas and stage sets and wrote sonnets. He was put in charge of the use of antiquities, many of which were used as building materials for the basilica. He was commissioned by Pope Leo X to produce a survey with drawings of Rome's ancient buildings. His letter to the pope about the survey in 1519 is a revealing insight into Raphael's ideas about architecture.

Raphael died of a fever on Good Friday, 6 April 1520 in Rome. He was laid in state in his workshop. There was a huge procession for his funeral and burial in the Pantheon. Five hundred years after his untimely death his works of art are some of the most famous in the world.

David Mathers, CEO of Credit Suisse International, said: "We are delighted to be supporting 'The Credit Suisse Exhibition: Raphael' .... . We look forward to continuing our long-standing commitment to the National Gallery in support of this much anticipated instalment of its exhibition programme."

A lavishly illustrated hardback catalogue can be ordered in advance priced £35 RRP£40

For more information and booking details see: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions