Search "" as a keyword...
Filter suggestionsContinue typing to see suggestions...
Other Frescoes

Other Frescoes

Jupiter and Cupid

dated 1827

Etching with engraving | RCIN 853953

A print by Ferdinand Ruscheweyh reproducing the pendentive fresco depicting Jupiter and Cupid 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. Lettered at bottom left with attribution of the composition to Raphael. Signed and dated. 

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).
  • Added to the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)