"Raphael has been admired during 500 years for his creativity"

Raphael's masterpieces Sistine Madonna and Madonna di Foligno. are now 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. Bernhard Maaz, Director of the museum, tells us everything about the exhibition.

How do you explain the uniqueness of Raphael's art?

Raphael has been admired during 500 years not only for his creativity, his inventions, his sublime and fine compositions but also for his ideas of the human goodness and for his human way of painting so many Madonna's who are lovely, who look alive and who give the idea of being close to us.

Together with Raphael's paintings, the exhibition shows further examples of representations of the Madonna, such as the Marian apparition by Cranach the Elder as well as works by Dürer, Garofalo and Correggio.  When painting the Madonna, what are the main differences between those artists and Raphael?

 Every painting shows different aspects of the life of Maria. Grünewald may be the most "expressionistic" painter -Maria is seen under a really visionary light ; Cranach looks more conventional and shows how close heaven was to earth for people around 1500, Garofalo's paintings are characterized by a highest refinement and a finest conceptual design, and Correggio gives the typical sacra conversazione, the meeting  between the Saints and Maria.

Could you describe the differences and similarities between the 'Madonna di Foligno' and the 'Sistine Madonna'?

The Madonna di Foligno shows the appearance of Maria near to earth: it shows how the saints and the commissioner have a vision of Maria. The Sistine Madonna is a vision, a heavenly apparition, without any relation to earth.

The Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and the Vatican Museums have entered into a special cooperation agreement for this exhibition. How does this cooperation work?  Has it been a complex process?

Surely it will be a complex process, and we have ideas and plans for further projects. It is the starting point for a long-time cooperation.

The five hundred years of the Sistine Madonna have been characterized by exciting stories involving secret negotiations and illustrious display. Can you walk us through some of them?

Since we celebrate the 500th anniversary of this painting in 2012 with a next exhibition, we shall show these aspects by that time.