God Appearing to Noah

An anonymous reversed copy of an engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi dated c.1513-15 (see RCIN 852744), usually described as based upon a fairly complete model by Raphael for 'God Appearing to Noah', one of the four scenes painted in the vault of the Stanza di Eliodoro in the Vatican. The subject has been often misidentified: Vasari interpreted it as 'God Blessing the Sed of Abraham', and Bartsch as 'God Commanding Noah to Build the Ark'. For further discussion, see Bibliographic References.