Raphael's Villa

An etching of a view of Raphael's Villa, the so-called Casino Raffaello. Because of the position of St Peter's Basilica at the right background, it is possible that this view shows the east façade of the Villa. The view also depicts the famous façade of the Villa Borghese. The print is signed and dated with the printmaker's monogram and at bottom centre bears a blind stamp. Annotated on the verso.

George Busse was a German artist who went to Italy between 1835 and 1844; during this period he executed this print.

Raphael's villa - a small summer-house, also known as the Casino Olgiati, which stood in the Galoppatoio area of the present-day Borghese Park - was destroyed in the siege of Rome in 1849 and Ruland notes that: "the three principal frescoes have been removed before"; these are now in the Galleria Borghese. In the life of Raphael written by Quatremere de Quincy and translated into Italian by Francesco Longhena in 1829, it is noted that in the villa there was a portrait of La Fornarina, the fresco of the Marriage of Alexander and Roxana, representations of the Vices with arrows and the Sacrifice of Flora on the ceiling. He also writes that seven prints after the paintings of this Villa were made by Francesco Saverio Gonzales, five of which are in the Royal Collection (see RCINs 854035.a-d and 854037).