Raphael at the Met Review: Why the Renaissance Master Still Matters

What better way to observe Mother’s Day than with a slice of Raphael’s Madonnas? A baby happy to be with mom, and, yes, the story gets heavy, but what tenderness, love, and beauty in those early days. The Met’s dazzling, breathtaking new exhibition, Raphael: Sublime Poetry, has plenty of Mary-and-Jesus scenes and much, much more. The show’s filled with beauty, but it’s intellectually sharp, too, starting with the first line of the introduction wall text in which the Italian Renaissance artist is described as “one of the great influencers of all time.” I think of influencers as modern media personalities shaping consumer behavior on things like fitness, investing, and looks, people who monetize brand awareness. They’re TikTokish, often young, and prey on those who are uncertain, fearful of putting a foot wrong, and also young.

But Raphael? An influencer? Called Raffaello Sanzio, he lived from 1483 to 1520 in a world where those with consumer firepower were very few — at least in the art world from Milan, Florence, and the rest of Tuscany, into Umbria and Urbino, Raphael’s hometown, to Rome. In that tiny world, though, he was a matchless tastemaker and gold standard-setter not only in his lifetime but, in the art world writ large, for half a millennium after his death. He fashioned the gentle persona of Jesus and of Mary, too, the great intercessor. He also fashioned, as do influencers today, the look of real beauty. His images filtered through class, ethnic, religious, and gender barriers to the point where they’re so ingrained they seem bourgeois.

About the Author

Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

What better way to observe Mother’s Day than with a slice of Raphael’s Madonnas? A baby happy to be with mom, and, yes, the story gets heavy, but what tenderness, love, and beauty in those early days. The Met’s dazzling, breathtaking new exhibition, Raphael: Sublime Poetry, has plenty of Mary-and-Jesus scenes and much, much more. The show’s filled with beauty, but it’s intellectually sharp, too, starting with the first line of the introduction wall text in which the Italian Renaissance artist is described as “one of the great influencers of all time.” I think of influencers as modern media personalities shaping consumer behavior on things like fitness, investing, and looks, people who monetize brand awareness. They’re TikTokish, often young, and prey on those who are uncertain, fearful of putting a foot wrong, and also young.

But Raphael? An influencer? Called Raffaello Sanzio, he lived from 1483 to 1520 in a world where those with consumer firepower were very few — at least in the art world from Milan, Florence, and the rest of Tuscany, into Umbria and Urbino, Raphael’s hometown, to Rome. In that tiny world, though, he was a matchless tastemaker and gold standard-setter not only in his lifetime but, in the art world writ large, for half a millennium after his death. He fashioned the gentle persona of Jesus and of Mary, too, the great intercessor. He also fashioned, as do influencers today, the look of real beauty. His images filtered through class, ethnic, religious, and gender barriers to the point where they’re so ingrained they seem bourgeois.