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Exhibitions and records of works of art

Prince Albert recognised the importance of photography to record and document notable exhibitions and works of art

AFTER A WORK BY THE CIRCLE OF PIETRO PERUGINO (CITTÀ DELLA PIEVE C.1450-FONTIGNANO 1523)

Three male heads

1858

Albumen print? | RCIN 2864289

A photograph of a drawing by an artist from the circle of Perugino, formerly attributed to Raphael part of the 'Libretto Veneziano' now in the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice (f.33r). The head at lower right seems to copy one of the heads of the shepherds from a multi-figure study by Raphael now in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm (inv. no.296) made in preparation for the 'Adoration of the Magi', the central predella scene of the so-called 'Oddi Altarpiece' now in the Pinacoteca Vaticana, Vatican City (inv. no.335).

This drawing features studies of arms and shoulders on the verso (see RCIN 854294 for a photograph of the verso).

This drawing is part of the so-called "Libretto di Raffaello" or "Libretto Veneziano", 53 sheets that used to be mounted in a volume. After complicated negotiations, the sketchbook was bought by the Accademia in the 1820s, after the death of Giuseppe Bossi, who was its previous owner. A number of scholars debated the author of the drawings (with many names proposed, such as Pinturicchio, Antonio da Viterbo, Eusebio del Giorgio, Girolamo Genga) and their date. In 1984, the drawings were catalogued as by an artist contemporary to Raphael, whose juvenile works he copied in this sketchbook (see Bibliographic References).

A copy of this photograph (RCIN 851377) can be found in the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection, portfolio 14 (970573)

  • Creator(s)

    After a work by the circle of Pietro Perugino (Città della Pieve c.1450-Fontignano 1523) (artist)

    Attributed to Florence : Alinari (photographer)

  • Acquired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

  • Bibliographic reference(s)

    Gallerie dell' Accademia di Venezia : catalogo dei disegni antichi. v.
    S. Ferino Pagden, Disegni umbri (1984); pp.96-8, no.32