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Other Frescoes

Other Frescoes

AFTER RAPHAEL (URBINO 1483-ROME 1520)

A study of an angel with raised arms

c.1853-76

Albumen print | 19.1 x 16.5 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 853855

A photograph of a drawing by Raphael in the Ashmolean, Oxford (inv.no.WA1846.208) for the figure of an angel in the mosaic depicting Jupiter and the astrological symbols associated with him in the cupola of the chapel of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome, which was executed by Luigi de Pace in 1516 after Raphael's design. Annotated on verso.

This study depicts the angel in the reverse of the position it adopts in the finished mosaic. The positioning of the wings also differs between the drawing and the final work. 

The Chigi chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo was the burial place of the Papal banker Agostino Chigi, who commissioned Raphael to work on a number of projects in Rome during the 1510s. Raphael was responsible for designing the chapel itself as well as all aspects of its decoration, which encompassed mosaics, sculptures, tombs and (probably) an altarpiece. In the cupola of the chapel, a central roundel containing a depiction of God the Father is surrounded by compartments containing personifications of the seven planets and stars, all executed in mosaic. The chapel remained unfinished at the deaths of both artist and patron in 1520.

  • Creator(s)

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

  • T 717 / 84 / Red chalk ; bottom ; A.3.2.

  • 19.1 x 16.5 cm (sheet of paper)

  • Acquired for the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)
  • Subject(s)
    • Religion & Theology
      • Religions and faiths
        • Christianity
          • Angels, demons, devils, saints
            • Angels
    • Places
      • Europe
        • Italy
          • Lazio [Italy]
            • Rome [Lazio]
              • Santa Maria del Popolo [Rome]
                • Chigi Chapel [Santa Maria del Popolo]
  • Bibliographic reference(s)

    no.387 (Joannides 1983 : Joannides, P., 1983. The Drawings of Raphael, with a complete catalogue, Oxford)

    pp.105-111 (Jones/Penny 1983 : Jones, R. and Penny, N. Raphael, 1983)