Other Frescoes
Other Frescoes
Venus and Cupid
published 1734Etching with engraving | RCIN 853870
A print by Bernard Picart reproducing a drawing in the Albertina, Vienna (inv.no.215) which is considered to be a copy of the two primary figures in a drawing in the Royal Collection, Windsor (see RCIN 912757). The Royal Collection drawings is attributed to a member of Raphael's workshop (perhaps Giulio Romano) and is closely related to 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. Lettered at the bottom with title and the names of Picard and Raphael. Trimmed on all sides. Annotated on verso. On watermarked paper. Published as Plate 4 in Impostures innocentes, ou Recueil d'estampes d'après divers peintres illustres (Amsterdam, 1734).
It has been argued that the Royal Collection drawing derives from Raphael's original compositional design (now lost) for the fresco, and was made in the workshop as part of the preparatory procedure towards executing the final fresco (see Bibliographic References).
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.
Impostures innocentes was published posthumously by Picart's widow. It comprises a defence, written by Picart, of reproductive printmaking, a series of plates reproducing Old Master drawings and paintings and a biography and catalogue of Picart's works. For other prints by Picart in the Raphael Collection, see RCINs 850203, 850204, 850709, 851010, 851720, 851815, 852499, 852665 and 852666. For a copy of the volume, see RCIN 809004; for more information on Picart and the publication see Bibliographic References.
It has been argued that the Royal Collection drawing derives from Raphael's original compositional design (now lost) for the fresco, and was made in the workshop as part of the preparatory procedure towards executing the final fresco (see Bibliographic References).
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.
Impostures innocentes was published posthumously by Picart's widow. It comprises a defence, written by Picart, of reproductive printmaking, a series of plates reproducing Old Master drawings and paintings and a biography and catalogue of Picart's works. For other prints by Picart in the Raphael Collection, see RCINs 850203, 850204, 850709, 851010, 851720, 851815, 852499, 852665 and 852666. For a copy of the volume, see RCIN 809004; for more information on Picart and the publication see Bibliographic References.
Added to the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)
