Raphael Collection
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Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851
Albert's Life and Times
Raphael Collection portfolio 23
A woman by a window
Another section rich in sixteenth-century prints after Raphael's designs
Marcantonio Raimondi (c. 1480-1534)
A woman by a window c.1510-20
Engraving | 16.4 x 10.0 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 852323
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An engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi depicting a woman sitting near a window after a drawing now in the Uffizi, Florence (inv. no. 1973 F), where it is catalogued as by Raphael. This drawing is dated to 1514 by Joannides (see Bibliographic References). Trimmed within the platemark.
The drawing was traditionally catalogued as by Parmigianino (Bartsch suggested this print was after a drawing either by Raphael or Parmigianino). More recently, archival documents have proved the attribution of the drawing to Raphael (see Bibliographic References).
The female figure has been variously interpreted as Danae (on the basis of a later inscription on the drawing) or most likely as the representation of St Helena (as in a painting by Paolo Veronese, now in the National Gallery, London, inv. no. NG1041; see RCIN 852329 for a photograph of this painting). According to the story, during her quest to discover the location of the True Cross (the cross on which Christ had been crucified), St Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, received divine help whilst dreaming.
In the drawing the woman is depicted on the left, with various studies for God the Father appearing to Moses and architectural studies for St Peter's Basilica. The first set of studies is connected with the composition of Moses before the Burning Bush, designed by Raphael and painted in the vault of the Stanza di Eliodoro in the Vatican.
Marcantonio Raimondi (c. 1480-1534) (engraver)
After a work attributed to Raphael (Urbino 1483-Rome 1520) (draughtsman)
After a work previously attributed to Parmigianino (Parma 1503-Casalmaggiore 1540) (draughtsman)
16.4 x 10.0 cm (sheet of paper)
Added to the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)
Object type(s)
Science, Medicine and Technology
Structural parts of buildings
Religions and faiths
Religions of antiquity
Danaë (myth)
Other number(s)
Ruland p.172 B.XXII.1
Bibliographic reference(s)
Inventario Uffizi. Disegni Esposti II 1987 : Disegni esposti, vol. 2, 1987 / a cura di Annamaria Petrioli Tofani, Florence (Gabinetto disegni e stampe degli Uffizi) p. 441, no. 1973 F
Joannides 1983 : Joannides, P., 1983. The Drawings of Raphael, with a complete catalogue, Oxford p. 219, no. 342r
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