Other Frescoes
Other Frescoes
The triumph of Galatea
c.1515-1520Engraving | RCIN 853839
An engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi reproducing the fresco The triumph of Galatea painted by Raphael in the loggia of the Villa Farnesina, Rome c.1512. Raimondi's monogrammatic device of an empty tablet in the bottom right corner (Nagler 1558). Trimmed to image. On watermarked paper. Annotated on verso.
Marcantonio and Raphael had a close working relationship, and the latter is known to have provided the former with drawings for reproduction as prints. This engraving, however, is one of the few by Raimondi which corresponds closely with Raphael's finished work; whether the Farnesina fresco or a preparatory drawing was Raimondi's source has been debated (see Bibliographic References).
The triumph of Galatea was Raphael's first commission from the Papal banker Agostino Chigi for the Villa Farnesina; he later also frescoed the villa's entrance loggia, as well as working on the banker's chapels in Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Pace, both also in Rome. Raphael's literary source for his depiction of Galatea was a poem by Poliziano which celebrated the victory of Giuliano de'Medici in a joust of 1475. Contemporaneously, Sebastiano del Piombo painted a fresco adjacent to Raphael's, again based on Poliziano's poem, depicting the giant Polyphemus. It seems likely that a full cycle of frescoes was planned for the loggia but that this plan was abandoned, for reasons unknown.
Marcantonio and Raphael had a close working relationship, and the latter is known to have provided the former with drawings for reproduction as prints. This engraving, however, is one of the few by Raimondi which corresponds closely with Raphael's finished work; whether the Farnesina fresco or a preparatory drawing was Raimondi's source has been debated (see Bibliographic References).
The triumph of Galatea was Raphael's first commission from the Papal banker Agostino Chigi for the Villa Farnesina; he later also frescoed the villa's entrance loggia, as well as working on the banker's chapels in Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Pace, both also in Rome. Raphael's literary source for his depiction of Galatea was a poem by Poliziano which celebrated the victory of Giuliano de'Medici in a joust of 1475. Contemporaneously, Sebastiano del Piombo painted a fresco adjacent to Raphael's, again based on Poliziano's poem, depicting the giant Polyphemus. It seems likely that a full cycle of frescoes was planned for the loggia but that this plan was abandoned, for reasons unknown.
- Added to the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)
