LET'S ALL GO TO THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

# 🏛️ New York City Art, Film, Museum, Social Club

## ✨ From Masterpiece to Vision: Raphael & Gothic Design at The Met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Saturday, April 25 | 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

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## 🌟 Event Description

We are reopening our Meetup group for the Spring with a truly special and thoughtfully curated experience at The Metropolitan Museum of Art—one that moves from artistic perfection… back to its origins.
This unique event brings together two extraordinary exhibitions, offering a rare opportunity to experience both the height of Renaissance mastery and the foundations of artistic design that came before it.

## 🗓️ Event Details

• Date: Saturday, April 25, 2026
• Meeting Time: 12:45 PM
• Event Time: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
• Meeting Location:

First Floor, Great Hall (near The Met Store)
Entrance at 82nd Street & Fifth Avenue

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## 🎟️ Tickets (Please Read Carefully)

Admission tickets must be purchased in advance or at the museum:
👉 https://engage.metmuseum.org/admission?_gl=1fz3353_gcl_auMTQwOTk1NTkwNS4xNzc1Mzk5NzE0_gaMTY0NjEwNTY0NS4xNzc1Mzk5NzE0_ga_Y0W8DGNBTB*czE3NzUzOTk3MTQkbzEkZzEkdDE3NzU0MDAxNDMkajYwJGwwJGgw

### 💳 Pay-What-You-Wish Admission

• New York State residents: Pay what you wish (must pay something)
• NY, NJ, CT students: Pay what you wish
• NJ/CT students must purchase in person with valid student ID
• NY residents can purchase online with a NY billing address

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## 🎨 Part I: Raphael: Sublime Poetry

We begin with one of the greatest artists in history.
Raphael, a master of the Italian Renaissance, created works of extraordinary harmony, beauty, and emotional depth. In a life of just 37 years, he rose to stand alongside Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, shaping the course of Western art for centuries.
This landmark exhibition brings together more than 170 masterpieces and rare works, tracing his journey from Urbino to Florence to Rome. Dive into the artistic process of one of history’s most beloved and influential artists. A true titan of the Italian Renaissance, Raffaello di Giovanni Santi (1483–1520)—better known as Raphael—matched ambition with lyricism to create works with both intellectual heft and emotional depth, a necessary skill in the complex political landscape of Renaissance courts. In his short life of only 37 years, he achieved such profound success as a painter, designer, and architect that he was regarded as the pinnacle of artistic perfection for centuries after his death. Raphael: Sublime Poetry is the first comprehensive exhibition on Raphael in the United States, bringing together more than 170 of the artist’s greatest masterpieces and rarely seen treasures to illuminate the brilliance of Raphael’s extraordinary creativity. The son of a painter and poet, Raphael engaged with the foremost writers and thinkers of his age in Rome, displaying a poetic sensibility that captivated his peers and generations that followed. Follow the full breadth of his life and career, from his origins in Urbino to his rise in Florence, where he began to emerge as a peer of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, to his final, prolific decade at the papal court in Rome. To underscore the range of his genius, this presentation brings together important drawings, paintings, and tapestries from public and private collections across Europe and the United States, many of which have never been shown together. With particular attention to Raphael’s portrayal of women—from his use of nude female models for the first time in Western art to his tender depictions of the Madonna and Child—and recent scientific discoveries made using state-of-the-art technology, this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to experience the genius of an artist who helped shape the course of art history.

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## 🏰 Part II: Gothic by Design: The Dawn of Architectural Draftsmanship

We then step back in time to explore where artistic vision begins.
Long before the great cathedrals of Europe were built, master masons and artists carefully designed their ideas through intricate drawings and plans. This exhibition reveals how, between the 13th and 16th centuries, these early designs shaped the Gothic structures that transformed the Western world.
Featuring over 90 works, this exhibition highlights the imagination, precision, and ingenuity behind medieval architectural design. Long before the towers of Gothic cathedrals could pierce the sky, architects outlined their vision and ambitions by creating intricate designs. The Gothic era, known for soaring structures like Notre-Dame in Paris, produced some of the Western world’s most breathtaking buildings. Their overall height, tall spires, pointed arches, and light-filled spaces were a striking departure from the more rounded and fortress-like features of the preceding Romanesque period. These innovative elements resulted from a new focus on the design process that is documented in original architectural drawings. Gothic by Design: The Dawn of Architectural Draftsmanship reveals how master masons and other artists began to visualize and communicate their complex ideas for cathedrals and other architecture-inspired structures in drawings and, later, prints. Between the 13th and 16th century, these little-known artworks on parchment and paper became a significant factor in the stylistic evolution of Gothic architecture and art at large. This rare presentation of more than 90 works of art—drawings and prints alongside goldsmith works, architectural elements, sculpture, and painting—sheds new light on the artistic choices and expansive knowledge that informed the Gothic building practice. Explore the vision, imagination, and skillful artistry embedded in the carefully drawn plans of medieval architects and other artists of the day.

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## 👥 Our Self-Guided Experience

This will be a self-guided tour designed with structure and flexibility.
All members will experience each exhibition at their own pace, while moving together within a thoughtfully guided framework:

• We will spend approximately one hour in each exhibition
• I will be present throughout as your group organizer
• With a light, guiding touch, I will gently help transition the group from one exhibition to the next

This approach allows everyone to fully enjoy the art while still sharing in a cohesive group experience.

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## 💬 Why This Event Is Special

This is more than a museum visit—it is a journey through the evolution of artistic greatness.
From Raphael’s timeless beauty and perfection… to the original visions that made such achievements possible… this experience brings together the full arc of artistic creation in one unforgettable afternoon.