A battle with lions

A lithograph of a red chalk drawing now in the Albertina, Vienna (inv. no. 14187), where it is catalogued as anonymous. This print is lettered with the name of Raphael and that of the lithographer, as well as publication details. Published in N. Förster, Lithographirte Copien von Original Handzeichnungen berühmter alter Meister der Italienischen schule aus der Sammlung seiner Kaiserlichen Hoheit des durchlauchtigsten Erzherzogs Carl von Oesterreich, 2 vols., Vienna (Mansfeld et Comp.), 1829-34.

This lithograph reproduces a drawing that is composed of various Raphaelesque compositions: the figure with a raised sword at the centre is close to the David depicted in the fresco of the Vatican Loggia (as noted by Passavant). The riders are taken from The Battle of Zama, a composition designed by Giulio Romano for a tapestry set for King Francois I now in the Louvre, Paris. See Bibliographic References.

Between 1829 and 1834 the lithographic printers Mansfeld and Company, who were based in Vienna, published two volumes of lithographic copies after drawings then in the collection of Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen; volume one contained drawings attributed to the the Italian school, and volume two the German and Flemish school.