A study of the Three Graces

A photograph of a drawing now in the Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin (inv. no. KdZ 21532), which is a copy of a red chalk drawing by Raphael (c.1517-1518) now in the Royal Library, Windsor Castle (RCIN 912754). This is a study of the Three Graces for the Banquet of the Gods from the vault of the entrance loggia of the Farnesina, Agostino Chigi's villa in Rome, which was frescoed with mythological subjects by Raphael's workshop c.1518.

The fresco decoration in the Farnesina illustrates the classical fable of Cupid and Psyche, a story which was also frequently used to decorate Florentine wedding chests. Raphael's fresco scheme comprises two primary scenes in the vault (painted to resemble tapestries), accompanied by a series of episodes painted in the pendentives. The whole is encompassed within a fictive pergola, which gives the viewer the impression of looking up into the heavens. Only the upper part of the loggia is painted (the vault and its supporting pendentives and spandrels).