Visit: Wednesday 13 October 2010
Meeting Place: The Brompton Library, 210 Old Brompton Road, London, SW5

10.30 am
“A miracle rather than a production of human art” – How Tapestries were Made
Catherine Reynolds, Visiting Fellow, University of Reading and Consultant to Christie’s

11.45 am
“They seem the work of the brush not of the loom” – The Relationship between Painting and Tapestry
Catherine Reynolds, Visiting Fellow, University of Reading and Consultant to Christie’s

12.30 pm
Lunch

2.15 pm
Visit to the exhibition “Raphael: Cartoons and Tapestries for the Sistine Chapel” at the Victoria & Albert Museum

This special exhibition, coinciding with the Pope’s historic visit to Britain, will provide an unrivalled opportunity to see four of the ten original tapestries designed by Raphael for Leo X in 1515 for the lower walls of the Sistine Chapel. These will hang alongside the full-size designs - the famous Raphael Cartoons, purchased by Charles 1 in 1623. The cartoons were sent to Brussels in 1517 where the  tapestries were woven and this will be the first time that both have been reunited.  The exhibition will include preparatory drawings for the cartoons and other loans relating to Pope Leo X and the Sistine Chapel.