Two drawings after the Entombment

Two photographs of drawings copying an engraving by Andrea Mantegna depicting the Entombment. This print was catalogued by Ruland (1876) as being related to Borghese Entombment, a painting executed by Raphael (1507) now in the Galleria Borghese, Rome (inv.no. 170). A connection appears unlikely, as this engraving was executed before the painting, but Raphael might have been familiar with the print (see Bibliographic References). See RCIN 850257 for the print by Mantegna.

Both drawings are 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 museum 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 Gallerie dell'Accademia catalogued the drawings as by an artist contemporary to Raphael, whose juvenile works he copied in this sketchbook (see Bibliographic References).