MILAN—The long-studied and much-admired paintings depicting “The Marriage of the Virgin” by Renaissance masters Perugino and Raphael can be seen side-by-side for the first time.
Brera Art Gallery director James Bradburne said March 14 that the works, depicting the marriage of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, have long appeared next to each other in art history books, but the real-life pairing opening at the Milan museum on March 17 is the realization of a long-nurtured art-world dream.
Raphael’s painting belongs to the Brera, which has borrowed Perugino’s from the Fine Arts Museum in Caen, France, where it wound up after being looted by Napoleon in 1797.
