Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister: Raphael and the Madonna

Raffael, »Madonna mit Kind und Buch«, um 1503, Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena

Raphael and the Madonna

From Early Work to Mastery

After having already paid tribute to the Renaissance master Raphael with two exhibitions marking the 500th anniversary of his death this year, the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister now draws attention to a central aspect of the artist’s work: the presentation of the Virgin and Child.

Exhibition Site Zwinger

DATES 04/12/2020—16/05/2021

Online Exhibition

We invite you to take a virtual tour through the exhibition during the corona-related closing of museums.

See the dates

‘Raphael and the Madonna’ also takes the opportunity to revisit Dresden’s central masterpiece – the Sistine Madonna. The original setting and theological message of the famous altarpiece are brought vividly to life.

For the duration of the exhibition, the Sistine Madonna will be installed opposite a recreated choir screen surmounted by a crucifix. The frightened gazes of the Infant Christ and his mother are directed – as formerly in the abbey church of San Sisto in Piacenza – towards the back of the crucifix. This new staging enables visitors to experience the rich context of Raphael’s painting.

Blick durch die Galerieräume Richtung "Sixtinischer Madonna", vor der sich ein hohes Kruzifix befindet — **Installation in der Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister anlässlich der Ausstellung "Raffael und die Madonna", 2020/21**

In the Semper-Kabinett, the focus falls upon Raphael's early oeuvre. The loan of the Madonna and Child with Book,* c. 1503, from the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California, facilitates this encounter with Raphael's early mastery and places his work in the context of his contemporaries.

*Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Madonna and Child with Book from the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena cannot travel to Dresden for this exhibition. We hope to be able to show the painting at a later date.