A putto holding the cross

An engraving by Luca Ciamberlano reproducing, in reverse, the figure of the putto on the left of the fresco The Prophet Isaiah, painted by Raphael in the church of Sant'Agostino, Rome, c.1511-12 (see RCIN 835797 for a print of the original fresco). In this print, the putto holds a cross and has wings. Inscribed with biblical quotation (Philippians 2,8), and lettered with production details. Numbered at bottom left: I. Annotated on the verso. Plate 1 of Ciamberlano's The Mystery of the Passion of Jesus Christ our Lord (Rome, 1621).

Ciamberlano's series, which was dedicated to Scipione Borghese, contained eight prints in addition to the title-page. Each print comprised a reproduction of putto from a fresco by a High Renaissance or Baroque master, depicted on a cloud with an attribute of the Passion, accompanied by a scriptural reference. Another mirror-image series of these prints is known, and has recently been argued to be a copy of Ciamberlano's original (see Zeitler, Bibliographic References).

The Prophet Isaiah was commissioned by Johann Goritz, a curial prelate, humanist and patron of the arts, for a pier in Sant'Agostino. The fresco formed part of a decorative ensemble which also included a sculpture of the Virgin, Child and St Anne by Andrea Sansovino and an altar; Goritz's tomb lies below the pier. The monumental figure of Raphael's fresco especially reveals the influence of Michelangelo's work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, though Raphael probably did not completely repaint the figure of Isaiah after seeing his contemporary's works, as Vasari claimed.