Heavenly Splendour - Raphael, Dürer and Grünewald paint the Madonna

Just under 500 years ago Raphael, one of the most celebrated painters of the Renaissance, painted the “Sistine Madonna” and the “Madonna di Foligno”. These two masterpieces are now to be reunited in a special exhibition named Heavenly Splendour. Raphael, Dürer and Grünewald paint the Madonna, which is organized by the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, (Germany) together with the Vatican Museums.

Raphael’s large altarpiece entitled “Madonna di Foligno” will be leaving the Pinacoteca Vaticana for the first time specifically for this exhibition. The exhibition will also bring together further examples of representations of the Madonna, including a depiction of a Marian apparition by Cranach the Elder (Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main) as well as works by Dürer, Garofalo and Correggio from the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister Dresden.

A very special insight into Raphael’s workshop is provided by the only surviving preparatory sketch for the “Madonna di Foligno” done in the artist’s own hand (British Museum, London) as well as a drawing, also by Raphael and closely related both to the “Madonna di Foligno” and the “Sistine Madonna” which is held in the Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main.

Date: from September 6, 2011 to January 8, 2012.
Place: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. Residenzchloss Taschenberg 2. 01067. Dresden. Germany.
Opening hours: from Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm. Saturdays and Sundays from 9am to 6pm.