Christ Church loan on display in Raphael exhibition at The Met, New York

One of the Gallery’s masterpieces, Head of a Bearded Man (Head of Joseph of Arimathea) by the Renaissance artist Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci, generally known as ‘Perugino’, is now on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as part of Raphael: Sublime Poetry, a major exhibition exploring the life, work and influence of Raphael.

The drawing is a rare surviving fragment of a full-scale preparatory design known as a ‘cartoon’. In Renaissance artistic practice, cartoons were used to transfer compositions onto the final painted surface. In this case, two surviving paintings are known to derive from the cartoon, offering a rare glimpse into Perugino’s working practice and workshop.

Perugino was Raphael’s teacher, and cartoons by him are exceptionally rare. The Christ Church drawing, described by the Raphael exhibition’s curator Carmen Bambach as Perugino’s ‘most powerfully expressive drawing’, appears in the exhibition’s opening gallery alongside a painting from the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, depicting Christ with Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. The pairing introduces visitors to the artistic environment in which Raphael trained before becoming one of the most influential artists in Western art.

The loan reflects Christ Church’s commitment to ensuring that important works from the collection remain accessible to the public during the Picture Gallery’s closure. While the building undergoes redevelopment, the Gallery’s work continues through research, conservation, teaching and loans to major institutions, allowing audiences across the world to engage with its remarkable collections.

Reflecting on the loan, the Picture Gallery’s Curator Jacqueline Thalmann said: ‘Seeing our Cartoon next to the painting from the Clark Institute is very moving and we felt it was crucial to collaborate with The Met on this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition. The pairing transports one back to Perugino’s workshop over 530 years ago, when these two items were there together. It also speaks to the power of this drawing and the care of collectors and curators that this piece of paper has survived and has been treasured for over half a millennium.’

The exhibition Raphael: Sublime Poetry runs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art until 28 June 2026.