Raphael and His Circle : Drawings from Windsor Castle

Library Journal

The Royal Collection at Windsor Castle stands out among the stellar repositories of old master drawings. This handsome and informative exhibition catalog is a well-rounded selection of 66 drawings by Raphael, his predecessors, and epigones chosen from its immense holdings. Not only are these works superbly reproduced, they are complemented by an unusually full and much-needed armory of relevant comparative material. This wealth of visual documentation permits the interested observer to enter more easily the attributional debates surrounding many of these sheets. Clayton's succinct introductory remarks vividly articulate the graphic personalities of Perugino Raphael, Giulio Romano, Perino del Vaga, and Polidoro del Caravaggio, while his catalog entries manifest an encyclopedic knowledge of the works and an acute sensitivity to their stylistic nuances, function, and chronological locus. Only specialists, however, will likely be engaged by the sometimes rancorous and unresolvable attributional squabbling that is the hallmark of this type of scholarship.--Robert Cahn, Fashion Inst. of Technology, New York Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.