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Vatican Frescoes

Vatican Frescoes

Auxiliary cartoon for the head of a Muse

c.1853-76

Salted paper print? | RCIN 852497

A photograph of a drawing by Raphael (c.1510) currently in a Private Collection (Christie's, London, 8 December 2009, lot 43). Ruland (1876) catalogued it as being then in the collection of Mr Boulton.

The drawing is an auxiliary cartoon for the head of the third standing muse to the right of Apollo in Raphael's fresco of Parnassus, painted in c.1510-11 in the Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican. Although the identification of the figure is the subject of ongoing debate, today's most plausible identification seems to be Terpsichore, the muse ruling over dance and theatrical choruses.
  • Acquired for the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)