Other Frescoes
Other Frescoes
MARCANTONIO RAIMONDI (C. 1480-1534)
Mercury
1518-1520Engraving | 30.0 x 20.3 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 853938
An engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi reproducing, it is generally believed, a design by Raphael for the pendentive fresco depicting Mercury from the vault of the entrance loggia of the Farnesina, Agostino Chigi's villa in Rome, which was frescoed with mythological subjects by Raphael's workshop c.1518. Trimmed within platemark. Annotated on verso.
The fresco decoration in the Farnesina illustrates the classical fable of Cupid and Psyche, a story which was also frequently used to decorate Florentine wedding chests. Raphael's fresco scheme comprises two primary scenes in the vault (painted to resemble tapestries), accompanied by a series of episodes painted in the pendentives. The whole is encompassed within a fictive pergola, which gives the viewer the impression of looking up into the heavens. Only the upper part of the loggia is painted (the vault and its supporting pendentives and spandrels).
The fresco decoration in the Farnesina illustrates the classical fable of Cupid and Psyche, a story which was also frequently used to decorate Florentine wedding chests. Raphael's fresco scheme comprises two primary scenes in the vault (painted to resemble tapestries), accompanied by a series of episodes painted in the pendentives. The whole is encompassed within a fictive pergola, which gives the viewer the impression of looking up into the heavens. Only the upper part of the loggia is painted (the vault and its supporting pendentives and spandrels).
Creator(s)
Marcantonio Raimondi (c. 1480-1534) (engraver)
After? Raphael (Urbino 1483-Rome 1520) (artist)
Raphael / 241 / Bottom; B343
30.0 x 20.3 cm (sheet of paper)
- Added to the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)
Subject(s)
- Religion & Theology
- Religions and faiths
- Religions of antiquity
- Classical mythology
- Mercury (mythology)
- Classical mythology
- Religions of antiquity
- Religions and faiths
- Religion & Theology
Bibliographic reference(s)
p.152, VII.6 (entry by Stefania Massari) (Raphael Invenit 1985 : Bernini Pezzini, G. et al., 1985. Raphael Invenit. Stampe di Raffaello nelle Collezioni dell'Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica, Rome)
p.348, no.E8.7. (Höper 2001 : Höper, C. Raffael und die Folgen, Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2001)
pp.183-89 (Jones/Penny 1983 : Jones, R. and Penny, N. Raphael, 1983)
