The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has opened "Raphael: Sublime Poetry," the first comprehensive exhibition of the Renaissance master in the United States. The ambitious show gathers 237 works, including 33 paintings and 142 drawings, spanning Raphael's entire career and featuring major loans like *The Alba Madonna* from the National Gallery of Art in Washington and *Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione* from the Louvre.
The exhibition seeks to reframe Raphael for a contemporary audience, moving beyond his iconic, often-imitated Madonnas to present a deeper social and historical context. Curator Carmen C. Bambach contextualizes the artist's serene depictions of motherhood with objects highlighting the period's high maternal and infant mortality, aiming to reclaim his artistic complexity and relevance. The show represents a significant institutional and financial commitment by the Met, supported by director Max Hollein, to reassert Raphael's standing in the modern artistic canon.