Other Frescoes
Other Frescoes
AFTER GIULIO ROMANO (ROME C. 1499-MANTUA 1546)
Mercury offering the cup of immortality to Psyche
c.1853-76Albumen print | 27.4 x 23.1 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 853967
A photograph of a preparatory drawing previously at Chatsworth (inv.no.55; sold 1984), by Giulio Romano and showing Mercury offering the cup of immortality to Psyche, for the fresco depicting the Council of the Gods from the vault of the entrance loggia of the Farnesina, Agostino Chigi's villa in Rome. The loggia was frescoed with mythological subjects by Raphael's workshop c.1518. Annotated on verso.
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).
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).
Creator(s)
After Giulio Romano (Rome c. 1499-Mantua 1546) (artist)
Right top / [illegible]
27.4 x 23.1 cm (sheet of paper)
Acquired for the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)
Subject(s)
- Religion & Theology
- Religions and faiths
- Religions of antiquity
- Classical mythology
- Mercury (mythology)
- Psyche
- Classical mythology
- Religions of antiquity
- Religions and faiths
- Religion & Theology
Bibliographic reference(s)
p.234, no.399 (Joannides 1983 : Joannides, P., 1983. The Drawings of Raphael, with a complete catalogue, Oxford)
pp.183-89 (Jones/Penny 1983 : Jones, R. and Penny, N. Raphael, 1983)
