V4 Wood Flooring are proud sponsors of the Raphael: Prince Albert’s Passion exhibition taking place at The Lightbox in Woking.
Running from 3rd October 2020 until 31st January 2021, the exhibition marks the 500th anniversary of the death of Raphael. To commemorate this significant event exhibitions are being staged around the world to celebrate one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance, and The Lightbox in Woking is the only gallery in the UK to be holding an exhibition about Raphael as part of these celebrations.
The Lightbox is an award-winning charitable arts and heritage organisation with a social purpose to improve the well-being and quality of life of its community, and as a neighbouring local business in Woking, with our V4 World design centre being just a five minute drive away, we welcomed the opportunity to show our support and be involved in creating the floor design for the Raphael exhibition space.
With a brief to help transform a section of the main gallery making a space that would transport visitors back in time to give the feel of an opulent renaissance setting worthy of his works of art, our Natureffect XXL Inglenook Hearth laminate wood floors were selected for installation. These floors are full of warm rustic charm and earthy tones to give an elegant aged appearance – fitting as a backdrop to his timeless artistry and sketches.
The temporary room is a low lit space to protect the ancient sketches or ‘cartoons’ as they were known 500 year ago, and the floor needed to be both beautiful and robust enough to last the 4 month exhibition. Natureffect Laminate XXL was the perfect solution as it can be installed on an underlay efficiently and with out the need of adhesive whilst still making a solid durable floor which is commercial grade and will stand up to high foot traffic and regular cleaning.
The exhibition relays the fascinating story of Prince Albert’s passion for Raphael and his creation of the Raphael Collection at Windsor Castle. It reveals how Raphael caught the imagination of the Prince Consort, who embarked on a pioneering research-based project into the work of the Renaissance master, making copies of his work using the newest technology available – photography.
The exhibition will reveal 500 years of reproductive techniques used to emulate Raphael’s work, not only in photography, but also in a variety of mediums including engravings, original wood-block printing and lithography.
The Raphael drawings from the Royal Collection are at the heart of the exhibition and several of them will be shown in the specially-designed space where our floors have been installed.
You can pre-book your time slot to visit the exhibition at The Lightbox website.
You can learn move about our Natureffect XXL laminate wood floor collection here.
