The Death of Ananias

A photograph of a full-scale drawing, known as cartoon, executed by Raphael and his workshop in 1515-16 for the tapestry illustrating 'The Death of Ananias', one from a set of ten tapestries commissioned by Pope Leo X for the Sistine Chapel illustrating episodes from the lives of St Peter and St Paul. The photographed cartoon is one of the seven that have survived; they are all part of the Royal Collection, and since 1865 are on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The ten original tapestries were woven in the workshop of Pieter van Aelst and are currently housed in the Vatican Museums.