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Old Testament subjects

Old Testament subjects

AFTER? RAPHAEL (URBINO 1483-ROME 1520)

Hercules killing the lion

published 1829

Etching | 28.9 x 22.8 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 850188

A facsimile etching of a drawing depicting Hercules killing the lion now in the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice (inv. no. 30 recto). This print was catalogued by Ruland (1876) as having been 'published by Celotti'; by this he was presumably referring to Luigi Celotti's 'Disegni originali di Raffaello Sanzio, per la prima volta pubblicati (da Luigi Celotti), esistenti nella Imperial Regia Accademia di belle arti di Venezia' (1829). Lettered with attribution of the drawing to Raphael, and numbered within the plate at top right: XVII. Annotated on the verso.

Ferino Pagden (see Bibliographic References) gives an account of the controversial scholarly opinions on the source for this drawing, suggesting that it could be a study by the young Raphael derived from compositions by Antonio del Pollaiuolo. See RCIN 850187 for a photograph of the drawing. This drawing features a study for a nude man on the verso (see RCIN 854283 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).

  • Creator(s)

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

    Luigi Celotti (1759-1843) (author)

  • right top

  • 28.9 x 22.8 cm (sheet of paper)
    25.8 x 19.6 cm (platemark)
    13.1 x 13.6 cm (image)

  • Added to the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)
  • Subject(s)
    • Religion & Theology
      • Religions and faiths
        • Religions of antiquity
          • Classical mythology
            • Hercules
    • Natural Sciences & Mathematics
      • Zoology
        • Animals
          • Mammals
            • Carnivorous mammals
              • Felines
                • Lions