The Mass at Bolsena

A photograph of a drawing now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (inv. no.WA1846.273), thought to record an alternative design for the fresco of the 'The Mass at Bolsena', painted by Raphael between 1511 and 1512 in the Stanza di Eliodoro in the Vatican. Formerly reputed to be by Raphael himself, the drawing is now generally regarded as a copy (sometimes attributed to Gianfrancesco Penni) after a lost original by the artist.

It has also been suggested that the drawing may be a free variation of the final composition of the fresco. Two other drawings of this subject (although inferior in execution) survive in the Ashmolean Museum (inv. nos.WA1846.274, WA1846.275; photographs at RCINs 852711, 852712). For further discussion, see Bibliographic References.