Fashion Designer Yuima Nakazato's Blue Season

Like a Vermeer painting, Ukrainian model Ali Honcharuk is all stillness and repose. Yuima Nakazato's cascading celestial silk chiffon gown adds a dash of futuristic verve. Photographed backstage before the Japanese couturier's haute couture AW 2022/23 Paris show by Elli Ioannou for DAM 

Yuima Nakazato is one of the most intriguing and visionary fashion designers working today. From creating sustainable fabrics to eliminating the needle and thread, he is taking haute couture into new realms. We talk to him in Paris and look at his latest collection, including exclusive backstage shots. Story by Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Photography by Elli Ioannou. Reporting by Antonio Visconti 

"The deeper the blue becomes, the more strongly it calls man towards the infinite, awakening in him a desire for the pure and, finally, for the supernatural...The brighter it becomes, the more it loses its sound, until it turns into silent stillness and becomes white." ~ Wassily Kandinksy

The origami-like set representing the Earth, 

designed by Yuima Nakazato for his Paris show. 

Photograph; Mathew Fisher

BLUE is the title of couturier Yuima Nakazato's new collection. Blue for how he felt during the pandemic, blue for the sky outside of his window in Tokyo and blue for our planet. 

In a diaphanous kaleidoscope of azure, the designer's latest creations floated amid origami-like paper sculptures based on his pen and ink drawings of Planet Earth. The models whirled around the circular catwalk installed in the Toguna space at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. 

"The glimpses of sky visible through the buildings outside my window in Tokyo brought to mind the rest of our shared planet," the designer said. 

"Almost in a state of prayer, I worked towards the creation of this collection. To our eyes, the sky and the sea both appear blue, but this is nothing more than a visual phenomenon. Dipping a piece of cloth into the ocean will not turn it blue. This color is a mystery we can see it with our eyes, and yet it doesn’t really exist. Wearing blue garments, I thought, might almost make a person feel as if they were draped in messages from one of the avatars of old." 

Thoughtful and self-contained, Yuima Nakazato is expanding his manifesto of experimentation: new materials and technology combined with superb artisanship. This Japanese dynamo is doing some of the most interesting and far-reaching work among not only the couturiers on the official Paris schedule but among contemporary designers today. He thinks beyond each fashion show to his cohesive vision that encompasses creating sustainable textiles and a couture that could be worn potentially by everyone. 

Yuima Nakazato is doing some of the most interesting and futuristic work among  contemporary fashion designers today

The evocative runway show with the bride

in her cascade of silken, white chiffon.

Photograph: Elli Ioannou

This type of "big picture' thinking in fashion is rare, especially at the upper echelons of haute couture which by its very nature is a hermetic world available to few and often conservative in its adherence to traditions. 

The labour intensive, hand-sewn garments are made of expensive fabrics and are, of course, costly to purchase. Yuima Nakazato is challenging some of these sacred couture premises while still maintaining the beauty and uniqueness that is central to the haute couture ethos. 

Although the designer's ideas are cutting edge and full of new technology, he never loses sight of the poetry amid the science. He brings a romantic, appealing aesthetic to his collections that transcend even his more avant-garde creations that are full of dark drama, from alien elfin ears to long prosthetic arms. 

He doesn't let his interest in the latest technological developments overwhelm his creativity. His vision has the potential to change the future of fashion and yet he manages to create pieces that are desirable to wear. His radical ideas inform his design philosophy while still making interesting, beautiful clothes. 

Designing his latest collection before it's presentation at Paris Haute Couture Week this month, Yuima Nakazato says he felt overwhelmed by what was happening in the world and online and decided he needed to come back to the grounding work of doing things by hand. The Blue collection is the second physical runway show he has held in Paris since the pandemic put them on hold for two years.

The designer's ideas are cutting edge and full of new technology yet he never loses sight of the poetry amid the science

Ethereal silk creations were contrasted

with protean kimono-like robes. 

Photograph; Elli Ioannou

"My heart was made heavy by all the things I read and saw from around the world these past six months," he said. "Overcome by feelings of confusion and powerlessness, all I could do was turn away from my phone. My hands, however, continued creating; sketching pictures, shaping clay, tearing up old fabric to be woven and dyed. "

The designer believes by creating something himself it was a comfort and a way of resisting today's digital world that he felt was overwhelming.

"While digitization is a big trend in the world, we also focused on making our creations in this collection by hand," he explains. "We actively adopted the traditional techniques that have been inherited over generations to make the kimono. For example, indigo dyeing, lacquer, embroidery and split weaving. Also, this collection is made with a rectangular pattern as much as possible. This is also an ancient kimono philosophy that does not waste fabric." 

One of Yuima Nakazato's central aims is to make fashion as sustainable as possible. As fabrics are produced in rectangular form, his designs inhibits the loss that occurs during the production of clothes. Inspired by the kimono, the new collection used that shape in different ways. Obviously a single rectangle does not suit the human body but joined together it can ~ and results in a garment that fits anyone. 

"We are studying more about the philosophy of the kimono, which has a structure that changes and fits everyone's body," says the designer. "I am incorporating this concept into my design. Since the kimono is made of rectangles, it does not actually have the shape of a human body but it fits everyone at the same time. 

"In other words, the approach to garment-making is completely different from that of the West, which tries to make it fit the three-dimensional human body. I believe this Oriental approach to the body goes beyond modern mass-customization concepts, that it can be tailored to each person."

"While digitization is a big trend, we focused on making our creations by hand. We adopted traditional techniques inherited over generations to make the kimono."

Backstage in Paris, a model adjusts the ceramic 

neckpieces designed by Yuima Nakazato.

Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato strives to have a  positive effect on the lives of the wearers of his clothes. One of the key philosophical elements underpinning his designs is his focus on the body's capacity to renew itself. 

"If we treat garments as extensions of our bodies, then wouldn’t it make sense for them to change alongside us?" he questions. He has turned not only to the latest technology to explore this idea but has also looked to Japanese history. 

"Traditional Japanese garments are never actually finished, they are constantly being repaired, darned, and patched. Sleeves get replaced, the obi gets adjusted, and hems get shortened. These alterations ensure that kimonos can fit people of all shapes and sizes. With transformation at it's core, the kimono inspired ideas of dynamic movement in this collection."

Nakazato and his team work with local craftsmen so that traditional handicrafts and methods are part of his designs and support Japanese kimono culture and preserve it for the future. Examples are Kiryu's embroidery and split weaving, Tokushima's indigo dyeing and Kyoto's use of lacquer. 

With his signature combination of fusing technology with craftmanship, Nakazato is experimenting with a range of different techniques that will make producing fashion kinder to our planet: from testing the use of new plant-based materials to using up fabrics that have been thrown on the scrap heap. 

Nakazato and his team work with local craftsmen so that traditional handicrafts and methods are part of his designs and support Japanese kimono culture

The designer created an abstract yet 

enchanted atmosphere at his Paris show.

Photograph: Elli Ioannou

 

"I try to use materials that easily biodegrade (that microorganisms can decompose) like those that are plant-derived materials. I also try to make one garment out of a single material. 

"That said, plant-derived fabrics are not always environmentally friendly. The important thing is, before looking at the material, whether the wearer will continue to use it for a long time. 

"The designer should consider not only durable and long-lasting materials, but also a design that transcends trends. However, I think that the kimono culture of the Edo period in Japan had all these elements. I believe that it can be realized even in modern times." 

Each collection now includes Yuima Nakazato's Type-1 garment production system which eschews the traditional needle-and thread. The garments are put together using specially-designed snap fastenings. So pieces can easily be changed and modified to suit the individual. This is central to his aim that unique clothes can be designed for many wearers. It also means a damaged part of a garment can be easily replaced and thus extends its lifetime. The designer believes that this system means anyone can be encouraged to make clothes either for themselves or as a business.

"I continue to use Type-1 as a standard," Nakazato says. "In design, I am pursuing something that dynamically changes, and with this system, not only can it be customized, but also the size can be changed, and even a belt like a kimono belt can be styled. By combining them, the areas of the changes that you can make will expand even more." 

"The designer should consider not only durable and long-lasting materials, but also a design that transcends trends."

Yuima Nakazato's fabrics were specially dyed

to create textural, almost 3D patterns. 

Photograph Elli Ioannou

The most thought-provoking aspect of Yuima Nakazato's collections is his experiment with brewed protein, a synthetic material designed and produced by a Japanese company that he collaborates with called Spiber. 

The material's shape can be controlled through digital fabrication. While petroleum-derived textiles such as polyester keep their shape with heat processing, natural dyes don't take hold. However, using biosmocking, the synthetic protein can take natural dyes, and the shape can also be controlled.

"Biosmocking has made great strides this season," Yuima Nakazato says. "Until now, digital UV printing has been used to control the shrinkage of the fabric and form the shape, but this time we succeeded in combining it with the traditional technique of indigo dyeing (combined with lacquer) and tie-dyeing: 'shibori'. Since it is made from natural dyes, it is not only 100% biodegradable, but also has unprecedented suppleness.

"Fusing this approach with traditional kimono production techniques such as the use of indigo dye, lacquer, and tie-dyeing allows us to balance shape retention with flexibility and improve material biodegradability by shifting away from petroleum-based inks, resulting in a further demonstration of biosmocking’s value as a garment production technology. "

Another aspect to Nakazato's sustainability philosophy is using surplus textiles. For this collection, the designer and his team asked companies, from clothing brands to manufacturers, to let them use their  leftover fabric. They collected redundant textiles that could not be sold and others that were remaindered and would eventually end up as landfill. 

"I wanted to create something beautiful from these dregs, from surplus materials that would usually be regarded as little more than industrial waste." 

Couturier Yuima Nakazato backstage

before his Paris haute couture show with  

his film camera. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

"We created this collection by using this 'dead stock': materials without a purpose, left waiting in storage due to damage, overproduction, or a myriad of other factors,"  the designer clarifies. "While each of them is special, attaching actual value to them is difficult. 

"With a small shift in perspective, however, they can become something entirely new. I wanted to create something beautiful from these dregs, from something that would usually be regarded as little more than industrial waste. That perspective is something I wanted to challenge through this collection."

Important to producing ecologically-aware fashion is making sure garments are made of a single material. After visiting processing facilities and recycling centers where garments are disposed of, Nakazato realized the importance of taking into account how garments will be treated, once they become waste or are upcycled, during the process of designing them.

"Wherever possible, the pieces in this collection feature mono-materials. We have endeavored to avoid sewing different types of materials together. This approach should result in garments which are easier to recycle and which have a lower chance of ending up as landfill or in the incinerator."

Looking at fashion as a whole and its effect on the environment, the designer believes we also need to come back to an appreciation of the hand-made. "There was a time when most clothes were made at home. In the past, the person who wore the garments and the person who made them were close by, and many people had the skills to make clothes. In a sense, this was a world where people only wore bespoke garments."

"The ultimate garment I would like to create, is one that is a 'living thing,' constantly altering its appearance according to the wearer's body and the external environment."

Celebrating backstage at the Palais de Tokyo.

after the successful haute couture show. 

Photograph; Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato believes that while it would be good if people were able to make their own clothes easily or have them made locally, technology is very effective at connecting producers and consumers. 

But he says that the links from the designer and producer to the wearer and the person who ultimately disposes of the garment must evolve so that each "layer" works to make the process much more ecologically freindly.  

"The ultimate garment I would like to create, is one that is a 'living thing,'  constantly changing, metabolized and altering its appearance according to the wearer's body and the external environment. When it's role is finished, it returns to the soil. How can we achieve this? That is what I have in my mind for the future."  

Scroll down to see highlights from Yuima Nakazato's AW 2022/23 Haute Couture collection

Backstage in Paris at the Palais de Tokyo before the show, dressed in filmy, silk robes of blue. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

The origami-like set designed by Yuima Nakazato in paper to represent our Blue Planet. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

A model wearing the sculptural ceramic neckpiece specially designed by Nakazato for this collection. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Even from discarded surplus fabric stock, Nakazato was able to transform the textiles into beautiful creations. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

A long, fluid robe inspired by the rectangular forms of the kimono. Photograph: Mattew Fisher

A wonderfully feathery, creamy silk bridal gown with an avant-garde aesthetic was the finale of the show. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

A close-up of the potent ceramic sculpture necklace created by the Japanese designer. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

A long, flowing gown with specially-dyed textural details was a feature of this collection. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

During the show, the models walked tin futuristic cloaks amid the evocative set which was suggestive of  rocky terrain. Photograph; Elli Ioannou

Backstage at Yuima Nakazato's haute couture show, the models gather at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

A symphony of blues and whites, the models almost merged with the blue paper landscape created from Nakazato's drawings. Photograph; Elli Ioannou

A cloud-like interpretation of a contemporary kimono in a diaphanou ensemble of variegated blues. Photograph; Elli Ioannou

A voluminous blue and white creation with a sculptural belt that looks both comfortable and elegant. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

The designer mixes experiments with new materials like brewed protein along with using traditional Japanese artisans for embroidery and hand-dying. Photograph; Elli Ioannou

Sustainability is also key to Nakazato's work and he and his team look at the processes from beginning to end of how a garment is made, including the textiles. Photograph; Elli Ioannou

Considering fashion as a whole and its effect on the environment, the designer believes we also need to come back to an appreciation of the hand-made.Photograph; Elli Ioannou

Nakazato brings a romantic, appealing aesthetic to his collections that transcend even his more avant-garde creations that are full of dark drama. Photograph; Elli Ioannou

Digital textile technology was used to print Nakazato's delicate sketches onto fabric without losing their impact. Photograph; Elli Ioannou

Nakazato is always experimenting with new techniques to make producing fashion kinder to our planet. Photograph: Mathew Fisher

"Wherever possible, the pieces in this collection feature mono-materials," says the designers. "We have endeavored to avoid sewing different types of materials together." Photograph: Elli Ioannou

"We are studying more about the philosophy of the kimono, which has a structure that changes and fits everyone's body," says Nakazato. "I am incorporating this concept into my design."  Photograph: Elli Iaonnou

Each collection now includes Yuima Nakazato's Type-1 garment production system which eschews the traditional needle-and thread. The garments are put together using specially-designed snap fastenings. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

"We created this collection by using 'dead stock': materials without a purpose, left waiting in storage," Yuima Nakazato explains."With a small shift in perspective, however, they can become something entirely new." Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Blue is the title of couturier Yuima Nakazato's new collection. Blue for how he felt during the pandemic, blue for the sky outside of his window in Tokyo and blue for our planet. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Nakazato and his team work with local craftsmen so that traditional handicrafts and methods are part of his designs and support Japanese kimono culture and preserve it for the future. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Thoughtful and self-contained, Yuima Nakazato is expanding his manifesto of experimentation: new materials and technology combined with superb artisanship. Photograph; Elli Ioannou

A happy Yuima Nakazato among his models after presenting his collection in Paris, only his second physical runway show since the pandemic put them on hiatus for two years. Photograph: Elli Ioannou 

Top Ten Looks from the Chanel Haute Couture Collection Paris Autumn/Winter 2022-23

 

Parish Fashion Week: Walter Van Beirendonck Spring/Summer 2023

Brilliant colours, unique silhouettes and wonderful sleeves at Walter Van Beirendock's Spring/Summer 2023 show in Paris. Cover picture and all photographs by Elli Ioannou for DAM.

Belgian designer Walter Van Beirendonck's avant-garde and provocative shows are a standout at Paris Fashion week. Post-pandemic he has brought his latest work alive in a historic theatre with a two-act performance that ranged across history, evoking Italy's Black Penitents to Elizabethan doublets, writes Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Photography by Elli Ioannou

The shrouded figures that opened the show

at the Théâtre de la Madeleine in Paris.

WALTER Van Beirendonck's evocative runway show opened amid the jewel-box surroundings of the 1924 Théâtre de la Madeleine, in Paris' 8th arrondissement. Appearing on the stage in the darkened auditorium were a row of dark, shrouded figures.

They looked like 12th century ascetic Italian Black Penitents, or Addolorati, known for wearing robes and pointed hoods during public processions on Catholic holy days, such as Good Friday, and disguising their identity.

However, at Mr Van Beirendonck's show once the black robes were mysteriously swished upwards above the theatre's proscenium, they revealed ~ one-by-one ~ a panoply of brilliant colours and startling silhouettes in emerald green, mauve, buttercup-yellow and metallic gold. The models sported a wild take on 18th century curled wigs which gave the looks both a contemporary aesthetic but also suggested Macaroni; young men famous for their effeminate dress, exaggerating 1700s style and starting new fashions. 

The highlight of the show, if not of Paris Fashion Week, were Mr Van Beirendonck's voluminous sleeves based on 17th century doublets. They looked remarkably evocative with slits for ruffles to flow through and undulating shoulders. He showed different iterations with metallic ruffles revealed between orange scalloped edges and green pleats peeking through the sleeves of cream bomber jacket.

The highlight of the show, if not of Paris Fashion Week, were Mr Van Beirendonck's voluminous sleeves based on the 17th century doublet

The designer's contemporary doublet

sleeve with metallic ruffles.

The doublet was originally designed to give men a fashionable shape and it was worn and redesigned for 

300 years from the Middle ages until the 1600s. A typical sleeve of the 17th century was full and slashed to show the shirt beneath; a later style was slit to just below the elbow and tight on the forearm. 

Mr Van Beirendonck has taken the doublet and reimagined it, making it wearable for our era, Beneath 

the dramatic show and medley of colour is the designer's remarkable skill at tailoring along with a unique avant-garde vision for menswear. 

Decorative ribbon points were pulled through eyelets on breeches in the 17th century and the waist of the doublet to keep the breeches in place were tied in elaborate bows. Walter Van Beirendonck created another version with his knickerbockers finished with rows of ties and ribbons.

This Spring/Summer 2023 collection also had more sporty designs that combined vivid lycra unitards in bold patterns with gleaming damask blazers and metallic green shoes that also suggested 17th century court footwear. Capes, gold medallions and black-banded eyes like masks gave the designs in the second act the look of modern fashion superheroes.

The beautifully-cut shirts with full, ruffled sleeves displayed the designer's brilliant tailoring along with the sharp jackets and long coats. The scintillating colours and interesting shapes were all explorations of the same themes, giving the collection a sense of cohesion amid the different designs. 

While the collection was exuberant, when Walter Van Beirendonck made his bow during the finale, he wore a large and simple t-shirt adorned with the word “Peace,” combined with green shorts and orange runners. But chunky rings adorning his fingers gave away his innovative and graphic baroque sensibility.

Scroll down to see highlights of the Walter Van Beirendonck Spring/Summer 2023

Ahluwalia's Bold and Bright Spring/Summer 2023 Collection

The leafy setting of the Salter's Hall Garden in London was the backdrop for the new Ahluwalia SS23 show.

PRIYA Ahluwalia originally founded her eponymous label as a menswear brand but added womenswear to her collections last season. Born in London, the designer is inspired by her Indian-Nigerian heritage and launched her fashion company in 2018. Integral to her design ethos are repurposing materials and finding different ways to examine black identity. This season she explored further afield, aiming to bring forth the heterogeneity of the African continent and all of its cultural individuality, calling the new collection Africa is Limitless. 

"It is inspired by everything from weaving, to their many superstar musicians, to the technicolour Sapeurs and album covers from Cote d'Ivoire," notes the designer. "Beaded elements draw on sources of inspiration from Kenyan and Rwandan cultures. Gorgeous patterns seen in old vintage museum blankets from Tunisia inspire a respectfully redrawn and reinterpreted likeness in knitwear, and other vintage textiles inspire unique prints."

Presented during London Fashion Week, the Spring/Summer 2023 Ahluwalia show was held amid the greenery of Salter's Hall Garden which was a foil to the brilliant colour of the designs she sent down the leafy runway. Colourful and voluminous head wraps completed looks which included an intriguing mix of athleisure and tailoring. The designer's bold patterns added to the vibrancy and vividness of the collection and made elusive references to the many African countries she studied before designing this season's show. ~ Giacomo de Rothschild

Renaissance Man: Raphael as Artist, Architect and Archaeologist

Raphael's luminous Saint Catherine of Alexandria, about 1507. Photograph: ©The National Gallery, London

A major new exhibition of the superlative Renaissance artist, Raphael, has opened at the National Gallery. Painter, architect, designer and archaeologist, the show has 90 exhibits of his work from celebrated paintings and drawings to lesser-known poetry and designs for sculpture, tapestry, prints and the applied arts. Antonio Visconti reports from London  

Raphael: The Garvagh Madonna, about 1509-10
Oil on wood 38.9x 32.9 cm 
© The National Gallery, London

POSTPONED because of the pandemic restrictions, the National Gallery in London has just launched an important new exhibition which explores the career of Raphael, considered a giant of the Italian Renaissance. In his brief career, spanning just two decades, Raffaello Santi shaped the course of Western culture like few artists before or since. 

“We are delighted that following its delay because of Covid we are now able to stage this exhibition which marks the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death in 2020, and is the first ever outside Italy to explore the complete career of this key figure in Western art,” said Dr Matthias Wivel, one of the show's curators.

A  painter, draughtsman, architect, designer and archaeologist, Raphael captured the human and the divine, love and friendship and gave us lasting images of beauty and civilisation. 

Although Raphael’s life was short, his work was prolific, and his legacy has lasted for five centuries. This exhibition examines not just his celebrated paintings and drawings but also his not so widely known work in architecture, archaeology and poetry, as well as his designs for sculpture, tapestry, prints, and the applied arts. 

The aim of the show is to explore every aspect of his multimedia activity. For centuries Raphael has been recognised as the supreme High Renaissance painter, visualising central aspects and ideals of Western culture. Though he died at 37, Raphael's example as a paragon of Classicism dominated the academic tradition of European painting until the mid-19th century. 

Although Raphael’s life was short, his work was prolific, and his legacy lasted for five centuries.

Raphael: Study for the Head of an Apostle

 in the Transfiguration. 

©Private Collection, New York

Raffaello Santi was born in Urbino in 1483, where his father, Giovanni Santi, was court painter. He almost certainly began his training there and must have known works by Mantegna, Uccello, and Piero della Francesca from an early age. His earliest paintings were also greatly influenced by his teacher Perugino. 

From 1500, when he was already an independent master, to 1508 he worked throughout central Italy, particularly Florence, where he became a noted portraitist and painter of Madonnas. 

In 1508, at the age of 25, he was called to the court of Pope Julius II ((reigned 1503–13) one of the great patrons in Western art history, to help with the redecoration of the papal apartments. Now based in Rome, he became one of the great history painters. He remained in the Eternal City for the rest of his life and in 1514, on the death of Bramante, he was appointed architect in charge of St Peter's. 

Raphael died unexpectedly leaving behind a multitude of great projects, some unfinished, and a legacy as one of the defining artists of the Western tradition. 

 

This exhibition at the National Gallery has 90 exhibits, all by Raphael, except those in media he did not practice himself but for which he provided designs, The show demonstrates why the artist plays such a pivotal role in the history of Western art. Loans from across his entire career, many of them unprecedented, have travelled to London from around the world, to join nine works from the National Gallery’s own collection of paintings by Raphael. 

The Louvre, Musei Vaticani, the Galleria degli Uffizi, and the Museo Nacional del Prado have all lent works for the exhibition. Highlights include Santa Cecilia (about 1515–6, oil on wood, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna) and the Alba Madonna (about 1509–11, oil on wood transferred to canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.) 

Raphael was born in Urbino and must have known works by Mantegna, Uccello, Piero della Francesca and Perugino. 

Raphael: An Allegory, Vision of a Knight
about 1504. Oil on poplar
17.1 x 17.3 cm
©The National Gallery, London 

Broadly chronological, the exhibition opens with a section devoted to the artist’s early works created in the Marche region of eastern Italy and his birthplace Urbino. 

These include the drawings for his Saint Nicholas of Tolentino altarpiece reflecting his lifelong practice of studying from live models. 

The exhibition then focuses on Florence where, as well as establishing himself within a new network of clients, Raphael continued to produce works for many other locations, including the Ansidei Madonna (The Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Nicholas of Bari, 1505, oil on poplar, the National Gallery) for Perugia.

 A rare gathering of Raphael’s paintings of the Virgin and Child, the genre that he above all made his own, includes pictures dating to his time in Florence, as well as paintings executed during his first years in Rome. 

Another section of the exhibition traces Raphael’s arrival in Rome where he quickly gained the patronage of the Sienese banker, Agostino Chigi (1466–1520). Chigi became his most important lay client, commissioning frescoes for his suburban villa, now called the Farnesina, as well as designs for chapels in two Roman churches: Santa Maria della Pace and Santa Maria del Popolo. 

Raphael’s Roman years saw him applying his talents widely and building a thriving and multi-faceted artistic enterprise.

Cesarino Roscetti: The Incredulity of St Thomas

Bronze, 88.5cm . Courtesy: Ministero per

 i beni e le attivita culturali  

The exhibition also includes two bronze roundels from Santa Maria della Pace, never previously exhibited outside Italy, including Cesarino Rossetti's The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, after designs by Raphael, about 1511-12 (see at right). 

One room is entirely devoted to Raphael’s frescoes for Julius II’s private apartments, known as the Stanze. This project included monumental, multi‐figure compositions depicting biblical subjects, scenes from the history of the Church, allegories of concepts such as Poetry and the great gathering of philosophers known as the School of Athens (1509–10).Drawings on display include a life study for the Greek philosopher Diogenes.

In addition to his demanding commitment to the Stanze, Raphael found time for other commissions, including his penetrating portrait of the sickly and elderly, yet strong-willed Julius II, also exhibited in this room, which transformed the way the powerful were depicted in Western art.

Never previously exhibited outside of Italy, are two bronze roundels from Rome's Santa Maria della Pace church.

Raphael: Madonna of the Pinks,

(La Madonna dei Garofani)

about 1506-7

Oil on Yew

27.9 x 22.4 cm 

©The National Gallery, London 

Raphael’s Roman years saw him applying his talents widely and building a thriving and multi-faceted artistic enterprise. The artist and biographer Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574) described him as a ‘universal artist’ in recognition of the mastery he developed across different mediums.

The exhibition examines his innovative work in printmaking, decorative art and tapestry design, as well as his architecture and archaeological work as surveyor of ancient Rome. 

However, painting remained central to his work, as demonstrated by his many variations on the subject of the Holy Family on display in the exhibition. 

Several of his original print designs, engraved by Marcantonio Raimondi (1470/82 ~ 1534), are here displayed alongside his preliminary drawings revealing the immense trouble Raphael took over what others might have regarded as minor works. 

This includes his Study for the Massacre of the Innocents. Also, included in this section is a single autograph drawing for the border of a salver. 

As surveyor of ancient Rome to Pope Leo X (reigned 1513–1521) Raphael undertook an ambitious survey of the ancient city with drawings of its principal buildings, having lamented in a letter on display in the exhibition, the destruction of significant ruins as ‘the shame of our age’.

The exhibition also provides an overview of his work as an architect in Rome, including his most prestigious appointment as architect of the new St Peter’s, the beginnings of the basilica we know today. His designs for private townhouses, or palazzi, are represented by a model of the façade of the Palazzo Branconio dell’Aquila, while his designs for the sprawling Villa Madama, created as a Medici refuge just outside Rome, were the most ambitious of their kind since antiquity but sadly the villa was only partially completed.

As surveyor of ancient Rome to Pope Leo X, Raphael lamented the destruction of significant ruins as ‘the shame of our age’.

Pieter Coeckle van Aelst:

Vision of Ezekiel c1521,

Tapestry, 440 x 337 cm 

©Museo Nacional de Artes

Decorativas Madrid 

Raphael’s ground-breaking work as a designer for tapestries is represented by the work he did for the Brussels workshop of Pieter van Aelst in 1517. These tapestries, like the Vision of Ezekiel  (see at left) were woven from wool, silk and gilt‑metal thread, This was part of his series on the Acts of the Apostles, designed to be hung in the Sistine Chapel under, and in direct competition with Michelangelo’s famous, frescoed ceiling. 

This series is among his most complex and influential works, bringing the logic of his monumental and meticulously planned narratives of the Vatican frescoes to a different, transportable medium. 

A digital facsimile of the original painted cartoon for the tapestry, made especially for this exhibition, helps elucidate the collaborative creative process behind these great projects, involving assistant painters and draughtsmen as well, of course, as the weavers in the Netherlands who created the finished works. 

The spectacular final room of the exhibition is dedicated to the portraiture of Raphael’s last years. He was generally too busy to take on portrait commissions, unless there was a strong political imperative, as with the 1518 Portrait of Lorenzo de’ Medici . The portraits he did execute, therefore, tend to have been painted out of friendship or affection, exemplified by his famous Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, completed in 1519, and on loan from the Musée du Louvre, Paris for this must-see show.

Raphael is at the National Gallery, London, until 31 July 2022.