New Yorkers are about to get a massive dose of Renaissance brilliance.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is officially hosting a landmark exhibition dedicated to Raphael, making it the very first comprehensive international loan exhibition of the artist’s work in the United States.
Titled Raphael: Sublime Poetry, this showcase promises to be one of the most breathtaking cultural events to hit NYC this spring.
According to recent coverage from art publications like Hyperallergic, securing loans for Raphael’s work is notoriously difficult, which makes gathering this collection a truly historic feat for the city.
A once-in-a-lifetime Renaissance showcase
This unprecedented exhibition brings together more than 200 works.
Visitors will be treated to over 170 of the artist’s most important drawings, paintings, tapestries, and decorative arts.
These masterpieces are traveling to New York from public and private collections all over the world. T
he collection explores his entire career, starting from his early origins in Urbino and moving through his highly prolific years in Florence. It finally culminates with his last decade spent at the papal court in Rome.
Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer, rightfully called Raphael a “true titan of the Italian Renaissance” in a museum press release.
What you can expect to see
The massive layout unfolds roughly chronologically to trace his life and the development of his brilliant ideas.
You will see his prodigious versatility up close, as the museum is featuring his drawings in direct relationship to paintings and works in other media.
One major highlight you absolutely cannot miss is The Virgin and Child with Infant Saint John the Baptist in a Landscape, which is widely known as The Alba Madonna.
Coming from the National Gallery of Art, this stunning piece will be united with its preparatory drawings from the Museum of Fine Arts in Lille.
You will also get to lock eyes with the famous Portrait of Baldassarre Castiglione, arriving straight from the Louvre in Paris.
Dive deeper into the genius
Even though he lived a mere 37 years, Raphael achieved profound success as a painter, designer, and architect.
He was an unparalleled storyteller who made pioneering use of nude female models and painted incredibly sensitive portrayals of the Madonna and Child.
To really understand the scope of his work, the exhibition features a digital video projection of his monumental fresco cycles located in four rooms of the Vatican Palace. This digital display provides a fantastic sense of scale for the many related drawings featured in the galleries.
To top it all off, you can explore the art with an audio guide hosted by Academy Award-nominated actress Isabella Rossellini.
The essential details for your visit are below:
Exhibition Dates: March 29 through June 28, 2026
Location: The Met Fifth Avenue, Gallery 899, The Tisch Galleries, Floor 2
