The selection of drawings demonstrates how Raphael created a specific mode of visual invention and persuasive communication through drawing. He used drawing both as conceptual art (including brainstorming sheets) and as a practice based on attentive observation (such as drawing from the posed model). Yet Raphael's drawings also reveal how the process of drawing in itself, with its gestural rhythms and spontaneity, can be a form of thought, generating new ideas. The Oxford exhibition will present drawings that span Raphael's entire career, encompassing many of his major projects and exploring his visual language from inventive ideas to full compositions. The extraordinary range of drawings by Raphael in the Ashmolean and the Albertina, enhanced by appropriate loans, will enable this exhibition to cast new light on this familiar artist, transforming our understanding of Raphael's art.

This book presents highlights from the collection of Maida and George Abrams, arguably the finest private collection of Dutch seventeenth-century drawings in the world. The works range from studies by renowned masters - including Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Rembrandt van Rijn, Jacob van Ruisdael, Jacques de Gheyn II, Hendrick Goltzius, Hendrick Avercamp, among others - to drawings by lesser-known draftsmen whose contributions are essential to understanding the art of the period.