Raphael: From Città di Castello to Rome through two works from the National Gallery in London

In the year of the five hundredth anniversary of Raphael’s death, a book containing contributions by Marco Pierini (director of Palazzo Ducale, Urbino, and the National Gallery of Umbria, Perugia) and Stefania Vai (Warburg University, London) traces the great artist’s career through two key paintings.

A particular focus falls on Città di Castello, where new studies of Raphael’s Mond Crucifixion have been carried out on behalf of the Church of San Domenico. The painting is now conserved in London’s National Gallery, together with Raphael’s famous Portrait of Julius II. The latter is the subject of an essay by Stefania Vai containing new information about the use and placement of the painting. A path that leads from the origins of Raphael’s artistic activity and the influence of Perugino, to his subsequent Roman period.