Australian Museum Gathers Works for Blockbuster Featuring Holy Family Painting by Raphael

THE AGE
By Dewl Cooke

Raphael: Holy Family with Saint John or Madonna of the Rose (c. 1516), image courtesy Museo del Prado, Madrid.

AUSTRALIA---One hundred paintings and drawings from the famed Museo del Prado in Madrid are to make their way to Australia for the first time for the National Gallery of Victoria's next Winter Masterpieces series. The works, from Italian Renaissance masters such as Raphael, Titian and Tintoretto, were favourites of the Spanish royal court and largely stayed in royal hands until acquired by the Prado in the 19th century. "That's what makes the collections unique; these works really have had just the one owner," said Laurie Benson, curator of international art at the NGV. "If you look at all the other major galleries...most of those were almost like vacuum cleaning collections whereas these were specifically purchased from major contemporary artists, they just happened to be now our revered Old Masters." [link]