Venus and Cupid riding on the backs of two sea creatures (dolphins?);
after Raphael (Urbino 1483 – Rome 1520)
Category
Art / Prints
Date
1515 - 1520
Materials
Ink on paper.
Measurements
271 x 180 mm
Collection
Saltram, Devon
NT 873018.7.108
Caption
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_V-6-58 After Raphael's design, now lost, for Giulio Romano's fresco on the south wall of the Stufetta Bibbiena at the Vatican. There are differences between the fresco and engraving, namely in the addition of a cityscape in the background of the print and the two winds above which may have been included in the original preparatory drawing for the fresco.
Summary
(Folio 41, recto, lower print) Venus and Cupid riding on the backs of two sea creatures (dolphins?); Cupid holding a arrow above his head in his right hand as if to strike the creature; personifications of wind blowing in the clouds above.
Provenance
At Saltram by 1771 and thence by descent to Montagu Brownlow Parker (1878-1962), 5th Earl of Morley and given to NT as part of the Endowment following transfer in 1957.
Makers and roles
after Raphael (Urbino 1483 – Rome 1520), creator Marco da Ravenna (fl. 1515 - 1527), creator Antonio Salamanca (1478 - 1562), publisher