Massive, moving, and marked by fresh insights, the first comprehensive exhibition on Raphael in the U.S., Raphael: Sublime Poetry (which was at The Metropolitan Museum of Art earlier this year) was a masterpiece of scholarship and diplomacy by its curator, Carmen C. Bambach.
She brought together a display of 237 works, including some of the artist’s greatest masterpieces and lesser-known treasures, to tell a new story of Raphael’s talents.
Dr. Bambach is an expert in such achievements: she is the acclaimed Renaissance scholar who curated two earlier blockbusters, Leonardo da Vinci: Master Draftsman in 2003 and Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer in 2017–18.
In a conversation with Columbia Professor Michael Cole, she will look back at the planning and the triumphant execution of this year’s exhibition, which was seen by more than 562,000 visitors over its three-month run.
Welcoming Remarks:
Barbara Faedda, Interim Director, Italian Academy, Columbia University
Speakers:
Carmen C. Bambach, Marica F. and Jan T. Vilcek Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Michael Cole, Howard McP. Davis Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University
Click here to register.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Carmen C. Bambach (BA, MA, and PhD, Yale University; fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences) is Marica F. and Jan T. Vilcek Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is a specialist in Italian art and has authored ninety scholarly articles and ten exhibition catalogues, including the award-winning Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer (2017), The Drawings of Bronzino Leonardo da Vinci: Master Draftsman (2003), Correggio and Parmigianino (2000), and The Drawings of Filippino Lippi and His Circle (1997). Other books include her award-winning Leonardo da Vinci Rediscovered (4 vols., Yale University Press, 2019); Drawing and Painting in the Italian Renaissance Workshop: Theory and Practice, 1300–1600 (Cambridge University Press, 1999).
Michael Cole is Howard McP. Davis Professor of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University. A specialist in Italian Art, his books include Cellini and the Principles of Sculpture (2002); Ambitious Form (2011); Leonardo, Michelangelo, and the Art of the Figure (2015); and Sofonisba’s Lesson (2019, expanded and revised edition 2026). The New History of Italian Renaissance Art that he wrote with Stephen Campbell (2011, revised edition 2018) has been translated into Italian, Japanese, and Chinese, and he has edited or co-authored eight other books, most recently Spanish Italy & The Spanish Americas: Connected Art Histories (with Alessandra Russo, 2026). He was recently awarded the Martin Warnke Medal from the Aby Warburg Foundation for achievements in the field of cultural studies.
Registration does not guarantee a seat. Check-in for registrants begins 30 minutes before the event. (Any open spots are offered to the stand-by line 10 minutes before the event).
This event is in-person only; there will be no video recording for publication.
Installation view of Raphael: Sublime Poetry, which was on view March 29–June 28, 2026, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Rebecca Schear.
