RAPHAEL

© v&a

Brian Sewell may come across as a caricature of his snobbish and art critical self but he does sometimes talk a modicum of sense. Like when he describes the Vatican Tapestries in the current V&A exhibition as 'travesties of Raphael's intention'. The exhibition, which promised to be so much more, is interesting if only to compare the Raphael cartoons beside their poor fabric representations. Curiously, these latter seem to have been given prominence, which serves only to highlight their inferiority the more. I personally preferred the preparatory charcoal sketches and indeed if you close your eyes to the tapestries, it is possible to enjoy the rest of the exhibition. However, after this disappointment, I am eagerly looking forward to the next Big Exhibition: Gauguin at the Tate.