The cupola of the Chigi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo

A chromolithograph by Grüner reproducing the decoration of the cupola of the chapel of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome, which was executed by Luigi de Pace in 1516 after designs by Raphael. Published as the frontispiece to Ludwig Grüner, I mosaici della cupola nella cappella chigiana di S. Maria del popolo in Roma inventati da Raffaelle Sanzio D'Urbino (Rome, 1839).

In Grüner's publication, details of each of the mosaics and two views of the whole design of the cupola of the Chigi chapel are reproduced alongside a description of the decoration. This was the first of a number of publications edited and illustrated by Grüner which reproduced works by Raphael.

The Chigi chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo was the burial place of the Papal banker Agostino Chigi, who commissioned Raphael to work on a number of projects in Rome during the 1510s. Raphael was responsible for designing the chapel itself as well as all aspects of its decoration, which encompassed mosaics, sculptures, tombs and (probably) an altarpiece. In the cupola of the chapel, a central roundel containing a depiction of God the Father is surrounded by compartments containing personifications of the seven planets and stars, all executed in mosaic. The chapel remained unfinished at the deaths of both artist and patron in 1520.