A Raphael masterpiece returning to Italy after over 200 years is the star attraction of a new exhibition in this Umbrian town.
Saint John the Baptist Preaching, which left the country in 1764, has been loaned to the show by its current owner, London's National Gallery. The painting portrays Saint John preaching to a throng of male listeners.
The figures are beautifully characterized and the saint's pointing gesture alludes to the coming of Christ. The painting is the only survivor of three that formed the predella - the painted base of an altarpiece - for Raphael's Ansidei altarpiece (1505) in Perugia's S. Fiorenzo church.
It was placed beneath the image of Saint John in the main altarpiece. The work is on display at a show entitled Esordi di
Raffaello tra Urbino, Citta' di Castello e Perugia (Raphael's Debuts in Urbino, Citta' di Castello and Perugia).
It opens at Citta' di Castello's Palazzo Vitelli on Friday and runs until June 11.
The exhibition also features a study for a work called The Eternal Father, on loan from the British Museum, and Raphael's Saint Catherine of Alexandria from Urbino's Galleria Nazionale.
Raphael (Raffaello Santi) was born in Urbino in 1483 and died in Rome in 1520 on his 37th birthday.
Despite his short life, he rose to become the supreme High Renaissance painter. He was taught by his father Giovanni Santi - a court painter whom contemporary art critic Giorgio Vasari dismissed as possessing zero talent - and inspired by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.
He studied with Perugino in Umbria before going to Florence in 1504. By 1508 he was in Rome, carrying out a series of masterpieces for Pope Julius II. Raphael's model of classicism dominated the academic tradition of European painting until the mid-19th century. Esordi di Raffaello tra Urbino, Citta' di Castello e Perugia is open every day except Monday.
