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Architecture

Raphael's career as an architect saw him work on St Peter's Basilica, Vatican

AFTER GIOVANNI ANTONIO DOSIO (1533-AFTER 1609)

A section of the Chigi Chapel

c.1853-1876

Albumen print | 18.2 x 11.0 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 854126

A photograph reproducing a pen and ink drawing by Giovan Antonio Dosio of a section of the Chigi Chapel now in the Uffizi, Florence (inv. no. 166 A). This drawing has been previously attributed to Raphael on the basis of the handwriting (Joannides).

There are many differences between the drawing - made after the paintings by Francesco Salviati - and the actual layout of the chapel, as Dosio does not include the rich decoration of the arches at the entry of the chapel or the figure of God the Father in the cupola (see Bibliographic References). Annotated on the verso.

The Chigi chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo was the burial place of the Papal banker Agostino Chigi, who commissioned Raphael to work on a number of projects in Rome during the 1510s. Raphael was responsible for designing the chapel itself as well as all aspects of its decoration, which encompassed mosaics, sculptures, tombs and (probably) an altarpiece. The chapel remained unfinished at the deaths of both artist and patron in 1520. (See RCINs 853848-853855 for the mosaics in the Cupola of the Chigi Chapel).

In the cupola of the chapel, a central roundel containing a depiction of God the Father is surrounded by compartments containing personifications of the seven planets and stars, all executed in mosaic by Luigi de Pace in 1516. Among the windows there are frescoes by Francesco Salviati with Scenes of Creation and original Sin; he also painted the rounds in the pendentives with the Seasons. The altar shows the Birth of the Virgin by Sebastiano del Piombo and Francesco Salviati, with a bronze bas-relief by Lorenzetto, while all around the chapel are the tombs of the Chigi family alternating with niches containing sculptures.
  • Creator(s)

    After Giovanni Antonio Dosio (1533-after 1609) (draughtsman)

    After Raphael (Urbino 1483-Rome 1520) (artist)

  • VII // Florence(?) 42 // pag. 140 A2 (?)

  • 18.2 x 11.0 cm (sheet of paper)

  • Acquired for the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76) 

  • Subject(s)
    • Places
      • Europe
        • Italy
          • Lazio [Italy]
            • Rome [Lazio]
              • Santa Maria del Popolo [Rome]
                • Chigi Chapel [Santa Maria del Popolo]
    • Science, Medicine and Technology
      • Construction
        • Structural parts of buildings
          • Roofs
            • Domes (architectural)
    • Arts, Recreation, Entertainment & Sport
      • Architecture
        • Architectural design
  • Bibliographic reference(s)

    p. 212, no. 316 (Joannides 1983 : Joannides, P., 1983. The Drawings of Raphael, with a complete catalogue, Oxford)
    pp.105-111 (Jones/Penny 1983 : Jones, R. and Penny, N. Raphael, 1983)