A view of the interior of the Piccolomini Library

A chromolithographic view, looking towards the north wall, of the interior of the Piccolomini Library, painted by Pinturicchio and his workshop (1502-07/08) with the aid of preparatory drawings by Raphael in Siena Cathedral. Mounted on a backboard, which is lettered with title and production details below image and numbered at upper right: Pl.V. Published in Polychrome Meisterwerke der monumentalen Kunst in Italien vom 5. bis 16. Jahrhundert. (Leipzig, 1870). Not in Ruland (1876).

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).