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1 of 253523 objects
A woman by a window published 1829
Etching | 21.3 x 14.2 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 852325
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An etching depicting a woman sitting near a window, copy of a print by Marcantonio Raimondi (RCIN 852323) which is after a drawing now in the Uffizi, Florence (inv. no. 1973 F), where it is catalogued as by Raphael and dated 1514 by Joannides (see Bibliographic References). This print was published in Vivant Denon Monuments des Arts du Dessin 1829, Plate XCIII, vol.II. On watermarked paper. Annotated on the verso. Trimmed within the platemark.
This 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.Provenance
Added to the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)
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Creator(s)
After a work previously attributed to (draughtsman) -
Medium and techniques
Etching
Measurements
21.3 x 14.2 cm (sheet of paper)
Markings
watermark: MA [verso, right]
annotation: 216 // 283 // N. 4 [verso, centre, in ink]
Other number(s)
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