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Raphael Santi and Portrait of Pope Leo X. Return

Exhibition May 4 − June 27, 2021
The Uffizi Gallery presents an exhibition Raphael Santi and Portrait of Pope Leo X. Return".

One of the most famous masterpieces by Raphael Santi, "Portrait of Leo X with Cardinals Luigi de 'Rossi and Giulio Medici" returned home to the Uffizi Gallery, where he became the "star" of the exhibition on the history of the painting and its restoration. The exhibition also features other paintings by Raphael, incl. "Portrait of Julius II" and "Portrait of Cardinal Bibbiena".

Despite the fact that over the years various scholars have suggested that the composition of the painting may have been originally conceived as simply a portrait of Leo X and that the figures of the two cardinals could have been added with the other hand at a later date, modern researchers and restorers are now able to reject this hypothesis once and forever. Reflectographic testing revealed that Raphael used two different types of drawings based on sketches, no doubt drawn at separate moments when the prelates took the time to pose for him.

Based on site materials Uffizi galleries.