UPTOWN—New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is presenting Raphael in toto: not as a single image of Renaissance perfection, but as a full artistic life, from Urbino to Florence to the papal court in Rome. The most extensive U.S. exhibition ever dedicated to Raphael brings together over 200 works, including rarely loaned masterpieces from across the globe.

The exhibition, titled Raphael: Sublime Poetry, is a long, cavernous, almost sacred, display of his works (only disrupted on occasion by an overflow of tourists) arranged chronologically, tracing his journey from his early beginnings in Urbino through his significant Florentine period to his final years at the papal court in Rome. Carmen C. Bambach, a specialist in Renaissance drawings and curator at The Met’s Department of Drawings and Prints, curated the exhibit after a seven-year planning effort.

The show features a rich array of Raphael’s works, like delving into someone’s personal diary—from preparatory sketches to full-scale paintings, tapestries, and decorative pieces. Among these are: The Alba Madonna (ca. 1509–11) from the National Gallery of Art, paired with preparatory drawings from Lille, Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione (1514–16) from the Louvre, The Ecstasy of Saint Cecilia, and Lady with a Unicorn.

Running from 29 March to 28 June 2026, at The Met’s Fifth Avenue location (Gallery 899), Raphael: Sublime Poetry presents a small journey following the artist’s trajectory—from apprenticeship to the height of Renaissance genius, through works seldom displayed together.  

Recommend going at odd times and during the week, although a security guard informed me that the crowds never seemed to abate.