Venus, Ceres and Juno

An engraving by Marco Dente reproducing a drawing by Giulio Romano in the Albertina, Vienna (inv.no.271) which relates to the pendentive fresco depicting Venus, Ceres and Juno from 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. Lettered with the printmaker's monogramme at bottom left (Nagler 1558). Trimmed within platemark. First state. Annotated on verso.

It has been argued (see Bibliographic References) that this highly-finished drawing was made by Giulio for the purpose of being reproduced in print. The Musée Wicar in Lille holds another drawing by Giulio of the same scene but with compositional differences that are closer to the finished fresco.

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).