Tapestries
Tapestries
LUDWIG SOMMEREAU (1756-86)
Christ descending into Limbo
dated 1779Etching | 32.2 x 20.7 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 853279
A print after the tapestry of ‘Christ descending into Limbus’, one from a twelve-piece set depicting scenes from the Life of Christ, traditionally known as the ‘Scuola Nuova’. Dated. Numbered at upper right: No.9. Lettered with title in Latin and artists' names.
The tapestry of ‘Christ descending into Limbus’ is the only one from the original set to have gone lost. The composition is known from various prints including the present one and an engraving by Beatrizet dated 1541 (see RCIN 853280). The other eleven tapestries survive today in the Vatican Museums.
The ‘Scuola Nuova’ set was probably commissioned by Pope Leo X, but the project seems to have been reactivated by Clement VII after his election as pope in 1523. Apparently designed by Raphael’s former assistants after the death of the master (perhaps incorporating some models by Raphael himself), the tapestries were woven in the workshop of Pieter van Aelst and completed by 1531, when the set was delivered to Rome. Ruland (1876) seemed to accept the traditional view according to which the ‘Scuola Nuova’ set was a gift to Pope Leo X from Francis I on the occasion of the canonization of Francesco di Paola in 1519. For further discussion, see Bibliographic References.
The tapestry of ‘Christ descending into Limbus’ is the only one from the original set to have gone lost. The composition is known from various prints including the present one and an engraving by Beatrizet dated 1541 (see RCIN 853280). The other eleven tapestries survive today in the Vatican Museums.
The ‘Scuola Nuova’ set was probably commissioned by Pope Leo X, but the project seems to have been reactivated by Clement VII after his election as pope in 1523. Apparently designed by Raphael’s former assistants after the death of the master (perhaps incorporating some models by Raphael himself), the tapestries were woven in the workshop of Pieter van Aelst and completed by 1531, when the set was delivered to Rome. Ruland (1876) seemed to accept the traditional view according to which the ‘Scuola Nuova’ set was a gift to Pope Leo X from Francis I on the occasion of the canonization of Francesco di Paola in 1519. For further discussion, see Bibliographic References.
Creator(s)
Ludwig Sommereau (1756-86) (printmaker)
After a work by the workshop of Raphael (Urbino 1483-Rome 1520) (designer)
Ludwig Sommereau (1756-86) (designer)
32.2 x 20.7 cm (sheet of paper)
DESCENDIT AD INFEROS
Added to the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)
Bibliographic reference(s)
p.497, no.H 12.16 (Höper 2001 : Höper, C. Raffael und die Folgen, Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2001)
pp.236-41 (Tapestry in the Renaissance 2002 : Tapestry in the Renaissance. Art and Magnificence, ed. Thomas P. Campbell, The Metropolitan Museum of Art 2002)
