Renaissance 3/2015 - 1 /lessandra Galiz6i Kroegel “3a.e space #or the great Raphael9& :n the ;*hibition Policies #or Raphael1s 3asterpieces Fig. 1= >iew of the current installation of the 2istine 3adonna in the +emäldegalerie /lte 3eister ?resden @0erbert -oswan., ?resden, 2taatliche 8unstsammlungen ?resdenA. “Raphael, or Ingres, or Picasso are meant Raphael in German and Italian museums during to be meditated upon. !" In order to med- the nineteenth centur) and up to the #irst hal# o# itate on a painting, it is essential to present the t%entieth century.[2] ,his stud) %as inspired it in a #avorable location and %ithin a calm b) (laudia -rin. and /ndreas 0enning1s care#ul atmosphere.& reconstruction o# the various hangings o# the 'e (orbusier[1] 2istine 3adonna #rom 1455, %hen the altarpiece arrived in 2a*on) a#ter its removal #rom the In this essa) I %ill discuss the e*hibition policies church o# 2an 2isto in Piacenza, to the present that %ere developed #or a #e% altarpieces b) day in its current location in the Gem7ldegalerie /lessandra +ali66i 8roegel 3a.e space #or the great Raphael9 .unstte*te.de 3/2015 - 2 <ig. 2= /dol# von 3en6el, Plat6 #Br den groβen Raf#ael9, Raphael in ?resden 1D55/5E, +ouache and pastel on paper, 5F * F2 cm, +er- manisches Gationalmuseum Gurnberg, 'oan o# the cit) of Gurnberg, @3oni.a Runge, +ermanisches Gationalmuseum “3ake space #or the great Raphael9&= a #amous Gurnberg). gouache b) /dolph 3en6el bearing this title (1D55/1D5EA @#ig. 2A illustrates an anecdote %hich ma) have circulated at the court o# 2a*on) #rom /lte 3eister in ?resden, %here it is e*hibited as the middle o# the eighteenth century, and %hich the clima* o# the %estern %ing1s stunning en#i- became %ell-.no%n not onl) in +erman) but to lade o# Italian galleries @#ig. 1).[3] <urthermore, an international audience as %ell, a#ter it %as in- m) in$estigation has been inspired b) the cur- cluded in Johann ?avid Passa$ant1s 1D3E rent discourse on transnational museum histor)= monograph on Raphael.[5] ,he subIect o# 3en- e*tending beyond the theory, b) no% universall) zel1s painting, %here the Juic. brush%or. con- accepted, that museums have been the per#ect tributes to the strong cinematographic Jualit) o# place #or the construction o# national identit) (at the scene, is the enthusiastic %elcoming o# the least since the nineteenth century), the ne% 2istine 3adonna (1512/13A to the court o# /u- transnational perspective suggests that the his- gust the ,hird, ;lector o# 2a*on) and 8ing o# tor) o# museums, especiall) in ;urope, is also a Poland, on 3arch 1, 1455. ,he king, dressed in histor) o# “cross-fertilization&, that is, a histor) o# an ermine mantel and a red turban, t%o obvious intense relationships among di##erent institutions indications o# his enormous %ealth, is portrayed #rom di##erent nations. /#ter all, “the museum is in the act o# pushing a%a) his o%n throne in or- open& b) de#inition.[4] der to make space #or Raphael1s altarpiece, %hich has Iust been carried into the throne /lessandra +ali66i 8roegel 3a.e space #or the great Raphael9 .unstte*te.de 3/2015 - 3 <ig. 3= Goël 'emire @a#ter (harles ;isenA, /llegor) o# the In- stallation o# the Royal Picture +aller) in ?resden, vign- ette-#rontispiece #rom (arl 0einrich von 0eineken, Recueil d1;stampes d1après les plus célèbres Tableau* de la +alerie Royale de ?resde !", 2 vols, 1453-1454, >ol. II, ?resden 1454, ;tching 20,5 * 24,2 cm, ?resden, 2taatliche 8unst- sammlungen ?resden, 8up#erstich-8abinett @0erbert -os%an., ?resden, 2taatliche 8unstsammlungen ?resdenA. room. ,he painting b) Raphael, as is %ell .no%n, had been eagerl) a%aited in ?resden= the negotiations #or its purchase #rom the -ene- dictine monks o# 2an 2isto in Piacenza had Fig. 5= 3ichael 8eyl, Plan of ?resden picture galler) in the #ormer royal stable building .nown as “2tallhof&, #rom (arl taken no less than t%o years, and the sum o# 0einrich von 0eineken, Recueil d1;stampes d1après les plus 25,000 scudi romani that %as #inall) agreed célèbres Tableau* de la +alerie Royale de ?resde !", 2 upon %as the highest price %hich had ever been vols, 1453-1454, >ol. I, ?resden 1453, ?resden, 2taatliche 8unstsammlungen ?resden, 8up#erstich-8abinett @#rom paid #or a %or. o# art.[6] /s #or the gouache b) -rin. 2005, ?er Game des 8Bnstlers, p. FEA. The di##erent 3enzel, the #act that the 2istine 3adonna is locations o# Raphael1s 2istine 3adonna are mar.ed in blue: the painting hung #irst on the longest %all, to the right o# the hardl) visible in the scene, and that it is not even entrance, and later on the shorter %all, Iust opposite to the mentioned in the title, the latter re#erring onl) to entrance. Raphael, e*presses the actual signi#icance o# this #amous purchase ver) %ell. Indeed, /ugust its passion #or lavishl) Rococo decoration, the ,hird had not been interested in getting this leaned to%ards the so#ter and vibrant Jualit) o# particular altarpiece b) the artist, a painting (orreggio1s artistic style. (orreggio1s 0ol) Gight %hich he had ne$er seen be#ore its arrival in %as given the place o# honor not onl) in the ?resden. Nhat he reall) had %anted, %as to second volume @1454A o# the Gem7ldegalerie1s o%n a %or. b) Raphael O an) %or. b) Raphael9 precious Galerie%er., %here it appeared both as –, a %ish %hich %as per#ectl) in .eeping %ith the the vignette-frontispiece @#ig. 3A and as the $er) opinion, %idel) held since the seventeenth cen- #irst o# the #i#t) etchings representing the royal tury, that the name o# Raphael on its o%n could collection @signi#icantl) enough, the 2istine sanction the e*cellence o# any art collection.[7] 3adonna %as not included among them).[8] <ur- /s a matter o# #act, the court o# 2a*on) thermore, 0ol) Gight also occupied the most did not immediatel) appreciate the solid per#ec- prominent position in the physical space o# the tion o# Raphael1s style. Initially, local taste, %ith Gem7ldegalerie, %hich had been housed in a /lessandra +ali66i 8roegel 3a.e space #or the great Raphael9 .unstte*te.de 3/2015 - 5 ception o# this altarpiece had changed since the last decades o# the eighteenth century, %hen a number o# .e) #igures o# the Romantic move- ment had started to celebrate this painting as the most per#ect e*pression o# the ne% 3ariolo- gical component o# their philosophy. /ccording to the 2chlegel brothers, and to <ichte, Nacken- roder, and Govalis, the >irgin 3ar) represented the ultimate ideal o# human reason, and the #ig- ure o# the >irgin painted b) Raphael embodied a kind o# universal humanity.[12] Nhile the %ritings o# these philosophers and men o# letters cer- tainl) did help dra% attention to the 2istine 3adonna, it %as probabl) the sheer po%er and novelt) o# the image O a vision %hich is both in- <ig. 5= Pn.nown artist, >iew o# the inner galler) in the #ormer credibl) celestial and real O that #ound its %a) royal stable building .no%n as “2tallhof&, 1D30, /Juatint on paper, 1E,D * 25 cm, ?resden, 2taatliche 8unstsammlungen into the hearts o# a much larger public.[13] In ?resden, 8up#erstich-8abinett @0erbert -oswan., ?resden, #act, the increasing popularit) enIoyed b) the 2taatliche 8unstsammlungen ?resdenA. 2istine 3adonna at the turn o# the eighteenth centur) is indicated b) the e*ceptional number Renaissance building close to the <rauenkirche o# prints and copies made therea#terQ soon, since 1455= the painting %as e*hibited on the these prints %ould contribute to an e$en more #irst #loor, at the center o# the main %all o# the %idel) e*tended #ortuna o# the image thanks to so-called “inner galler)&, namel) the horseshoe- their reproducibilit) in almanacs and Iournals.[14] shaped galler) dedicated to the Italian school.[9] -) the time o# the painting1s re-hanging in 1D14, /s #or the 2istine 3adonna, it hung on the same the 2istine 3adonna %as on its %a) to become long %all as 0ol) Gight, but in a rather peripheral one o# the #irst #etish-images o# pop-culture.[15] position @#ig. 5). ,his ver) #irst placement o# the On the one hand, this e*plains the museum1s altarpiece b) Raphael corresponds, more or decision to present it as the high point o# the less, to the area %hich is occupied b) 0ol) Italian galler)Q on the other hand, such an e*hibi- Gight in a vie% o# the “inner galler)& dated 1D30, tion strateg) %as destined to increase the pic- %here a couple and their child stand at the #oot ture1s popularity. o# the painting b) (orreggio @#ig. 5). ,his vie% is /nother #actor %hich ma) ha$e contrib- Juite interesting because it documents the gal- uted to the painting1s relocation in the Gem7lde- ler)1s drastic re-hanging o# 1D14= the 2istine galerie in 1D14 is the rene%ed attention %hich 3adonna is no% e*hibited on the %all opposite Raphael1s entire production had been enIoying the entrance, that is, it is aligned %ith the direc- internationall) since 1D03, %hen the displa) o# tion o# the visitor1s promenade, o# %hich it con- his %orks had been presented as the most pres- stitutes the clima*.[10] ,he altarpiece1s high tigious section o# the 3usée GapolMon in Paris. ranking is #urther suggested b) the symmetrical ,hanks to the systematic con#iscation o# art in disposition o# the paintings surrounding it. In a the countries conJuered b) Gapoleon, the dir- %ay, ?osso ?ossi, ,itian, and (arracci consti- ector o# the 'ouvre, ?ominiJue >ivant ?enon, tute a sort o# meta-frame #or the %or.