The cultural TV channel Russia-K has broadcast the latest programme in the authorial series by Hermitage Director Mikhail Piotrovsky – “The Spirit of Raphael and the Foot of Giulio Romano”, devoted to the restoration of School of Raphael frescoes.
These frescoes were taken from the walls of the Villa Stati-Mattei on the Palatine Hill in Rome in the 19th century and became part of the Hermitage collection.
Tradition associated them with Raphael, with the work of his studio and his closest pupils. However, the quality of the painting and its state of preservation were such that it was not possible to divine Raphael, or indeed the 16th century at all, behind the thick layers of later overpainting. Only in our own time was a new generation of Hermitage restorers and curators able to penetrate through the numerous layers of varnish, paints, wax and plaster and find what they sought – painting of the highest quality, in which one can sense the spirit of Raphael, his school and even the hand of his favourite pupil, Giulio Romano, since he alone could have painted such a foot as Venus displays lying in Adonis’ embrace.
In the latest episode of the programme, viewers will learn how the restoration of monumental paintings takes place and how the Hermitage is preparing for the major exhibition “After Raphael” that will be devoted to the power of the great master’s influence on world art right up to the present day.
The programme editor was Alexei Chachba; the director was Mikhail Trofimov.
You can watch a recording of the programme (in Russian) by following this
link.
