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Raphael and the Cult of Beauty as a World

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Art Criticism Raphael and the Cult of Beauty as a World-Historical Force Considering the meanings of “Raphael: Sublime Poetry” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met’s giant “Raphael: Sublime Poetry” show needs no sales pitch. Raphael is one of the shining stars of European art history, even if he has played both hero and heel roles: as standard setter for graceful beauty or symbol of academic...
The strongest version of this narrative frames Raphael as a pivotal figure whose artistic genius and professional ambition were inextricably linked to the political and religious upheavals of the Renaissance. The exhibition’s curation deserves credit for avoiding hagiography, instead presenting Raphael as a complex figure—both a master of beauty and a participant in systems of power and excess. The connection drawn between his patronage by Leo X and the financial pressures that fueled the Reform...