A man carrying the base of a column

An engraving by Agostino Veneziano depicting a man carrying the base of a column, which is a different version in reverse of a print by Marcantonio Raimondi (see RCIN 852289 for this print). Signed by the printmaker with a monogram. Trimmed within the platemark.

This print perhaps shares the same model as the print by Marcantonio or derives from it. Marcantonio's engraving has been variously interpreted as being based on a lost drawing by Raphael (Bartsch), or by Giulio Romano or Perino del Vaga (Massari), or to be Marcantonio's own invention (Geddes). According to Massari (see Bibliographic References), the print is clearly inspired by the Antique, as the relation between the man depicted in this print and a similar figure on an antique sarcophagus in the Vatican Museum would suggest. Geddes (see Bibliographic References) also notes that this print precedes the decoration of Palazzo Te, Mantua by a decade, anticipating Giulio Romano's design in the Sala dei Giganti 

It has also been suggested that Marcantonio's print could be related to a preparatory drawing (which has been variously attributed to Raphael or members of his school) now at Musée Condé, Chantilly (inv. no.57(48 bis) for the left figure in The Coronation of Charlemagne in the Stanza dell'Incendio in the Vatican. See RCIN 852814 for a photograph of this drawing.