The Three Graces

An engraving attributed by Bartsch to Marco da Ravenna depicting the Three Graces, after a print by Marcantonio Raimondi which according to its inscription was copied after a bas-relief. This print is lettered at the bottom of the print: "SIC ROMAE CARITES NIVEO EX / MARMORE SCULP". Signed with a monogram ('SR') and inscribed in ink by a later hand with an explanation of the subject. In this inscription it is suggested that the monogram could stand for 'Raffaello Sanzio' . This is probably a second state of the print, unknown to Bartsch. Trimmed within the platemark. Annotated on the verso.

This print has been related to the painting of the same subject executed by Raphael (c.1504) and now in the Musée Condé, Chantilly  (inv. no.38). See RCIN 851651 for a photograph of the painting. The source of the painting as well as that of this print has been disputed and Massari (see Bibliographic References) suggested as a model an antique statue in the Vatican Museum (Gabinetto delle Maschere), rather than the Roman copy after a Hellenistic original (4th-2nd century BC) now in the Piccolomini Library, Siena. See RCINs 854545 and 854546 for photographs of the statue in the Piccolomini Library.