Cupid and the Three Graces
1518/19
Medium
Engraving in black on cream laid paper
Dimensions
31 × 20.6 cm (12 1/4 × 8 1/8 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
109055
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
When Raphael painted the frescoes in the garden loggia of Rome’s Villa Farnesina, he faced an unusual pictorial format. Working in the spandrels, he had to account for the nearly triangular spaces created by the arched ceiling. This engraving, a detail of the fresco, clearly demonstrates the structural obstacles of the architecture, as the numerous curved lines represent the vaulted ceiling, trim, and wall.
About the Artist
Marcantonio Raimondi · 1475–1534
Marcantonio Raimondi (c. 1480–1534), born near Bologna, Italy, emerged as one of the Renaissance's premier engravers, revolutionizing printmaking through his mastery of reproductive techniques. He trained in the workshop of the goldsmith, painter, and niellist Francesco Francia, whose influence is evident in his early engravings, such as the goldsmith-like shading in *Pyramus and Thisbe* (1505), h...