The study of paintings by Raphael has produced an exceptional collection of material over the 500 years since their creation in the sixteenth century, covering their history and provenance as well as the materials and techniques used in their making.

With the Research Resource, The National Gallery, London, and its partners (Accademia Carrara di Belle Arti, C2RMF, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen, Graphische Sammlung, Städel Museum, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, Musée Condé, National Gallery of Art, North Carolina Museum of Art, Norton Simon Museum, Pinacoteca Comunale di Città di Castello, Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo, Pinacoteca di Brera, Réunion des musées nationaux, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Szepmuveszeti Museum, The British Museum, The J. Paul Getty Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Morgan Library and Museum, The National Gallery of Scotland and The Royal Collection) are pleased to present this wealth of information to specialists and the general public alike. Initially the project was based on the extensive studies of the ten paintings by Raphael in the Gallery collection, but it has now been developed to hold information provided by a growing number of other institutions and collaborators.

A wide range of information has been supplied by various departments and specialists. An example of the diverse types of material provided by the National Gallery can be seen here.

We expect that other institutions will contribute relevant information to the Research Resource in the near future. Furthermore, the project has been designed to allow for the inclusion of other artists.

The random detail generator on this page provides a snapshot of art-historical, technical and conservation-based information included in the database, ranging from paint samples and infrared reflectograms to pages from artists’ sketchbooks and sixteenth-century documents.

Pressing pause will stop the flow of images and display a brief caption about the current image.