Other Frescoes
Other Frescoes
The Council of the Gods
1534-1564Engraving | RCIN 853964
An engraving by Gian Giacomo Caraglio believed to reproduce a now lost drawing by Raphael 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, which was frescoed with mythological subjects by Raphael's workshop c.1518. Trimmed within platemark. Second state, retouched by Michele Lucchese, who added his initials and the name of Raphael at bottom right.
Caraglio executed prints after drawings for two of the Farnesina frescoes (see also RCIN 853956), probably whilst part of the circle of Marcantonio Raimondi in Rome in the 1520s. There are differences, particularly in the heads, between this print and the finished fresco.
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).
Caraglio executed prints after drawings for two of the Farnesina frescoes (see also RCIN 853956), probably whilst part of the circle of Marcantonio Raimondi in Rome in the 1520s. There are differences, particularly in the heads, between this print and the finished fresco.
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).
- Added to the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)
