Other Frescoes
Other Frescoes
The congress of Mantua
c.1853-76Albumen print | RCIN 853781
A photograph reproducing the fresco 'The congress of Mantua' painted by Pinturicchio and his workshop (1502-07/08) in the Piccolomini Library in Siena Cathedral. Numbered at bottom right: 209. The photograph is catalogued by Ruland (1876) as having been taken by the Florentine photographic firm Alinari.
The decoration of the Piccolomini library was commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Todeschino Piccolomini (later Pope Pius III) in 1502 from Raphael's older Perugian contemporary Pinturicchio. The frescoes illustrate events in the life of Pope Pius II (Enea Silvio Piccolomini), the Cardinal's uncle. Vasari credited Raphael with executing 'some drawings and some cartoons' for the library at the express request of Pinturicchio. Scholarly opinion has been divided over the attribution of preparatory drawings for the frescoes, but at least five drawings convincingly related to the decorative scheme are considered to be by Raphael (see Bibliographic References).
- Acquired for the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)
