Other Frescoes
Other Frescoes
AFTER MARCANTONIO RAIMONDI (C. 1480-1534)
The triumph of Galatea
c.1515-1520Engraving | 39.8 x 28.1 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 853840
A copy of an engraving by Marcantonio 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). Termed 'Copy A' by Bartsch (see Bibliographic References). The outlines of most of the primary elements of the composition have been pricked. Trimmed to image. Annotated on verso.
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.
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.
Creator(s)
After Marcantonio Raimondi (c. 1480-1534) (engraver)
After a work by the workshop of Raphael (Urbino 1483-Rome 1520) (artist)
[illegible]
[illegible]
39.8 x 28.1 cm (sheet of paper)
- Added to the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)
Bibliographic reference(s)
p.150, VI.3 (entry by Stefania Massari) (Raphael Invenit 1985 : Bernini Pezzini, G. et al., 1985. Raphael Invenit. Stampe di Raffaello nelle Collezioni dell'Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica, Rome)
p.346, E7.2 (Höper 2001 : Höper, C. Raffael und die Folgen, Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2001)
pp.93-97 (Jones/Penny 1983 : Jones, R. and Penny, N. Raphael, 1983)
