DRAWINGS BY RAPHAEL AND HIS SCHOOL AT THE ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM

Raphael's Studies for the Trinity of St Severo and sketches after Leonardo, c. 1505 (a detail)

DRAWINGS BY RAPHAEL AND HIS SCHOOL

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The Ashmolean Museum is home to one of the world’s finest collections of European drawings, spanning from the Renaissance to the present. Now encompassing some 25,000 sheets, the collection began with the acquisition in 1846 of Thomas Lawrence’s outstanding holdings of Raphael and Michelangelo drawings.

The Ashmolean’s Raphael collection has long been recognised as the most important of its kind in the world for its scope, quality and art historical significance.

The group of some 80 drawings unanimously considered to be by Raphael’s hand throws light on the artist’s early formation, on the shaping of his major projects, and on his prodigious abilities and restless inventiveness as a draughtsman and designer more broadly.

Beyond this, Raphael’s cultivation of talented students and associates can be traced in the Ashmolean collection of drawings from his studio or his circle, including Giulio Romano and Perin del Vaga.

This collection also includes copies of lost works that give important insights into Raphael’s design and creative processes. They testify to the pedagogical value of copying in the workshop, and the appetite of collectors for such drawings that bear the imprint of the master’s thinking, if not his hand.

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About the research project

This three-year research project will see the shaping of the first detailed and comprehensive catalogue of the drawings by Raphael and his school at the Ashmolean Museum. Led by Angelamaria Aceto, and encompassing some 200 sheets among autograph drawings, school drawings and copies, the project will benefit from the collaboration of the Ashmolean Conservation Department over a seven-month period.

Research aims

The research will address questions of connoisseurship, function, iconography and history of collecting surrounding the graphic work by this canonical figure in European art, along with fresh scrutiny of documentary and historical evidence.

It will likewise strive to answer complementary questions concerning the materials, techniques and working processes employed by Raphael and his close followers with the aid of non-invasive technical investigation methods (e.g. XRF and IRR). This attention to the materiality of drawings has yet to be fully exploited in Raphael studies and has already demonstrated significant potential for new discoveries.

The results will resonate with students of the early modern period and of conservation science alike, while the catalogue’s rich and new content will eventually feed into the Ashmolean’s online collections, making the research results accessible to the wider public.

Images:

(Banner and top right) Studies for the Trinity of St Severo and sketches after Leonardo, Raphael, c. 1505. Metalpoint on white prepared paper, 21.1 x 27.4 cm. © Ashmolean Museum

(Bottom right) Combat of nude men, Raphael, c. 1508-09. Red chalk over blind stylus on laid paper, 37.9 x 28.1 cm. © Ashmolean Museum

Project funders:

Tavolozza Foundation
The Vaseppi Trust
The Wolfgang Ratjen Foundation
The Cosman Keller Art & Music Trust
Other private donors

Project dates:

Starts January 2024

Project team:

Angelamaria Aceto, Ashmolean Museum, Senior Researcher in Italian Drawings (Principal Investigator)
Kelly Domoney, Ashmolean Museum, Conservation Manager, Preventive, Science, Technical (Heritage Scientist)
Alexandra Greathead, Paper Conservation Manager
Lara Daniels, Paper Conservator