Other Frescoes
Other Frescoes
AFTER GIOVANNI BATTISTA CASTELLO (C. 1510-1569)
Studies of legs and an arm
c.1853-76Albumen print | 36.3 x 26.3 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 853969
A photograph of the verso of a drawing attributed to Giovanni Battista Castello in the Royal Collection, Windsor (RCIN 990490) comprising studies of a leg and an arm. Ruland (1876) catalogued this drawing as being 'slight black chalk studies for the arms and legs of Jupiter' on the back of 'a study ... by G. Romano, for the group of Jupiter and Neptune' in 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.
Ruland noted that the recto of the photographed drawing (see RCIN 853968) differed 'in many points' from Raphael's fresco. It is now identified as a study for Castello’s fresco of the Council of the Gods, in the vault of the Salone of the villa of Tobia Pallavicino in Genoa; although Castello chose a different moment of the narrative to paint, he was heavily influenced by Raphael's depiction of the story of the Council of the Gods, which he had presumably seen in Rome.
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).
Ruland noted that the recto of the photographed drawing (see RCIN 853968) differed 'in many points' from Raphael's fresco. It is now identified as a study for Castello’s fresco of the Council of the Gods, in the vault of the Salone of the villa of Tobia Pallavicino in Genoa; although Castello chose a different moment of the narrative to paint, he was heavily influenced by Raphael's depiction of the story of the Council of the Gods, which he had presumably seen in Rome.
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 Giovanni Battista Castello (c. 1510-1569) (artist)
After a work previously attributed to Giulio Romano (Rome c. 1499-Mantua 1546) (artist)
Bottom
36.3 x 26.3 cm (sheet of paper)
Acquired for the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)
Bibliographic reference(s)
no.829 (P&W : Popham, A.E. & Wilde, J., 1949. The Italian Drawings of the XV and XVI Centuries in the Collection of His Majesty The King at Windsor Castle, London)
pp.183-89 (Jones/Penny 1983 : Jones, R. and Penny, N. Raphael, 1983)
