The Oddi Altarpiece and a hypothesis for Raphael in Florence in 1503

CYCLE: Research in progress
SPEAKER: Silvia Ginzburg
DATE: Thursday, March 26, 6:00 PM

The analysis of the preparatory drawings for Raphael’s Oddi Altarpiece, painted for the church of San Francesco al Prato in Perugia and now housed in the Vatican Pinacoteca, has revealed unexpected comparisons with a famous work by Perugino. These findings have prompted a reconsideration of a hypothesis previously proposed in scholarly studies regarding a stay by Raphael in Florence in 1503. As further comparisons emerged during the research indicate, this brief sojourn in Florence, which precedes the better-known move datable to 1504, is highly likely to have been the occasion of his first encounter with the work of Leonardo. This encounter was likely introduced by a possible intermediary, who was himself decisive in explaining this stylistic juncture, so well understood by Giorgio Vasari, in which the old and the new coexist in Raphael’s work just before his definitive transition to the maniera moderna (modern manner).
 

Silvia Ginzburg is a Full Professor of Early Modern Art History at Roma Tre University. Her research primarily focuses on 16th and 17th-century painting and art literature. A member of the scientific committee of VIVE – Vittoriano and Palazzo Venezia, she has conceived and curated the museum's art history lecture series since its inception.

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