Venus riding in a chariot

A print by Pietro Ghigi reproducing, in rectangular format, the pendentive fresco depicting Venus riding in a chariot 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 below image with title, attribution of the design and the names of the printmaker and draghtsman. Numbered at top right: 15. Plate 15 of Schola Italica artis pictoriae; sive, Tabulae insigniores in Romanis pinacothecis adservatae tabulis aere incises (Rome, 1806). State before addition of publication line. Annotated on verso.

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).