Dr Ben Thomas, Reader in the Department of Art History, has written a new piece as part of his ‘Raphael in Focus’ series for the Italian Cultural Institute.
Several other School of Arts staff members and students, including Ben, have already contributed to the Institute’s online Stay Safe! project, which aims to maintain a sense of community by sharing thoughts and sources of inspiration during COVID-19.
Ben’s piece explores the artist Raphael‘s The Heads and Hands of Two Apostles (c.1519-20), which he describes as ‘arguably the most impressive of all Raphael’s drawings’.
‘[Raphael’s] utter command of the medium ranges from the most carefully calibrated shading to firm and decisive marks – such as that defining the edge of the old man’s nose – to the freer lines and traces that vividly evoke hair’, explains Ben. ‘Through this virtuoso handling Raphael performs the integration of intelligence and gesture that is the essential subject of this drawing’.
To read the full piece, please see the Italian Cultural Institute’s website here:
https://iiclondra.esteri.it/IIC_londra/en/gli_eventi/calendario/focusonraphael_2.html