04/28/2026
Up close with The Alba Madonna — I’m not okay😭.
Raphael’s Sublime Poetry exhibit at the Met is the largest showing of his work ever seen in the US, and standing in front of this piece I kept thinking about the pigments. Ground by hand from minerals. Lapis lazuli for that impossible blue. Lead-tin yellow for the warmth. And underneath it all, the dead color underpainting technique that Renaissance painters used to build depth before a single true color was applied.
The original wood panel was damaged and later transferred to canvas — and still, it jumps off the wall.
We are so lucky these survived and were able to stand right in front of them. I’m in awe….