Venus and Cupid

An engraving by Agostino Veneziano after a now-lost drawing by Raphael for the fresco depicting Venus and Cupid on the south wall of the stufetta, or bathroom, in the apartments of Cardinal Bibbiena in the Vatican Palace. The stufetta was frescoed with mythological subjects by Raphael's workshop c.1516. Signed and dated at top left. Annotated on verso. On watermarked paper. Trimmed on all sides. Second state.

Cardinal Bibbiena had a close friendship with Raphael, patronising him on a number of occasions and, it would seem, facilitating the betrothal of the artist to his niece. In addition to the stufetta, Raphael's workshop also painted Cardinal Bibbiena's loggia. Both spaces were designed in a manner imitating ancient Roman painted decoration, and included depictions of episodes from Ovid, grotesques and ornamental motifs. The stufetta was rediscovered in the nineteenth century and survives in a much damaged form today; the loggetta was not rediscovered until the twentieth century.

A closely-related drawing to that reproduced in this print is in the Royal Collection (see RCIN 912757), attributed to a member of Raphael's workshop (perhaps Giulio Romano). It has been argued that this Royal Collection drawing derives from Raphael's original compositional design for the fresco, and was made in the workshop as part of the preparatory work towards executing the final fresco (see Bibliographic References).