Mon 9 Nov · 6pm
University of Sydney, Chau Chak Wing Museum · Camperdown
the Ambrosiana's director on Raphael's full-scale School of Athens drawing
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Join Alberto Rocca, Director of the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana for a rare journey into the drawing that preserves, line by line, the creative mind of Raphael.
Five hundred years ago, Raphael drew at full scale the great thinkers of antiquity for the fresco he was about to paint in the Vatican for Pope Julius II, the work later known as ‘The School of Athens’.
Saved by an ingenious device from the pricking that would have consumed it, this fragile sheet has crossed the centuries: acquired by Cardinal Federico Borromeo for the Ambrosiana in Milan, seized by Napoleon and carried to Paris, sheltered during two World Wars, and now restored after years of meticulous care. Its history reads like an adventure; its meaning, like a revelation. Around Plato and Aristotle, Pythagoras and Diogenes, Raphael unfolds a vision in which ancient wisdom prepares humanity for a higher truth, at the heart of a room conceived as a complete map of human knowledge.
This talk is presented with the support of the Consulate General of Italy in Sydney.
About our Speaker:
Monsignor Dr Alberto Rocca is an Italian theologian, historian, and ecclesiastical figure who serves as the Director of the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan, Italy.
As well as bing the current director of the Pinacoteca Mon. Dr Rocca is also the Director of the Classe di Studi Borromaici at the Accademia Ambrosiana. His research further focuses on early modern history and the English theologian and philosopher Richard Hooker. He is the author of…
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University of Sydney, Chau Chak Wing Museum, Camperdown
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When is The Preliminary Cartoon for Raphael’s ‘School of Athens’?
Mon 9 Nov 2026, 6pm.
Where is it?
University of Sydney, Chau Chak Wing Museum, Camperdown, NSW.
How much is it?
It is free.
Where do I find out more?
On eventbrite.com.au. The button at the top of this page goes straight there.
How do I find out which of my mates are keen?
Tap "Ask your mates if they're keen" on this page. You get one link for the group chat, and your mates answer keen, maybe or can't in their browser, with no app and no sign-up. It is free.
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