Other Frescoes
Other Frescoes
A group of four soldiers
c.1853-76Albumen print | RCIN 853758
A photograph of a metalpoint drawing by Raphael (c.1502) in the Ashmolean, Oxford (inv. no.WA1846.154) for the fresco 'Enea Silvio Piccolomini crowned Poet Laureate by Emperor Frederick III' painted by Pinturicchio and his workshop (1502-07/08) in the Piccolomini Library in Siena Cathedral. Annotated on the verso in ink.
The decoration of the Piccolomini library was commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Todeschino Piccolomini (later Pope Pius III) in 1502 from Raphael's older Perugian contemporary Pinturicchio. The frescoes illustrate events in the life of Pope Pius II (Enea Silvio Piccolomini), the Cardinal's uncle. Vasari credited Raphael with executing 'some drawings and some cartoons' for the library at the express request of Pinturicchio. Scholarly opinion has been divided over the attribution of preparatory drawings for the frescoes, but at least five drawings convincingly related to the decorative scheme are considered to be by Raphael (see Bibliographic References). For a photograph of the finished fresco, see RCIN 853755.
The decoration of the Piccolomini library was commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Todeschino Piccolomini (later Pope Pius III) in 1502 from Raphael's older Perugian contemporary Pinturicchio. The frescoes illustrate events in the life of Pope Pius II (Enea Silvio Piccolomini), the Cardinal's uncle. Vasari credited Raphael with executing 'some drawings and some cartoons' for the library at the express request of Pinturicchio. Scholarly opinion has been divided over the attribution of preparatory drawings for the frescoes, but at least five drawings convincingly related to the decorative scheme are considered to be by Raphael (see Bibliographic References). For a photograph of the finished fresco, see RCIN 853755.
- Acquired for the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)
