The head of one of the Three Graces

A facsimile by Professor von Neher of a drawing depicting the head of one of the Graces. The Three Graces were part of the fresco of the Banquet of the Gods in 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. 

Ruland (1876) notes that this drawing was in the possession of Professor von Neher, identifying it with the pastel by Le Brun "mentioned in Crozat's catalogue, n.111". This is the "Description sommaire des dessins des grands maistres d'Italie..", sale catalogue of Crozat's collection written by Mariette (1741). Ruland and Passavant describe this as a cartoon-fragment probably misunderstanding the sale catalogue that mentions also a cartoon in the same auction lot. Therefore, it is possible that Von Neher acquired the pastel by Le Brun after the dispersion of Crozat's collection and made a facsimile of it for the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection.

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).