Pan and Syrinx

An engraving by Marco Dente which reproduces, in reverse and with additions in the background, a drawing in the Louvre, Paris (inv.no.4035) attributed to Giulio Romano. The Louvre drawing is considered a preparatory study for the fresco, designed by Raphael, depicting Pan and Syrinx on the west wall of the stufetta, or bathroom, in the apartments of Cardinal Bibbiena in the Vatican Palace. The stufetta was frescoed with mythological subjects by Raphael's workshop c.1516. Lettered with the publisher's address along bottom and with a monogram at bottom right (Nagler 1411). Trimmed to image. Annotated on verso. Last (sixth) state with the addition of the publisher's address; the plate retouched after the second state to cover Pan's erect penis.

Cardinal Bibbiena had a close friendship with Raphael, patronising him on a number of occasions and, it would seem, facilitating the betrothal of the artist to his niece. In addition to the stufetta, Raphael's workshop also painted Cardinal Bibbiena's loggia. Both spaces were designed in a manner imitating ancient Roman painted decoration, and included depictions of episodes from Ovid, grotesques and ornamental motifs. The stufetta was rediscovered in the nineteenth century and survives in a much damaged form today; the loggetta was not rediscovered until the twentieth century.