Beneath the paintings of ravishing Raphael

Nancy Durrant | The Times | 27th May 2017

Raphael was one of the great Renaissance painters but as a draftsman he was peerless. Drawing allowed him to experiment and express emotion in a way that painting did not. “[T]he men strain under the palpable weight of the dead body … the Virgin is caught in the act of fainting, while the Magdalene lurches compulsively to touch Christ’s face. Blood streams from his wounds. It is bold, it is startling and it is risky”.