The Three Graces sitting on clouds, cupid at the left, after Raphael's fresco in the Chigi Gallery of the Villa Farnesina in Rome

Art Historical Context

Behold *The Three Graces sitting on clouds, cupid at the left*, a engraving by Marcantonioondi after a fresco by the High Renaissance genius Raphael (Raffaellozio). Created around 1517–20, this print captures the ethereal beauty of three nude female figures perched gracefully on clouds, with the winged Cupid playfully positioned to the left. Measuring 12 3/16 x 8 3/8 inches, it exemplifies the reproductive printmaking that made Raphael's designs accessible far beyond Rome. The original fresco adorned the Chigi Gallery (now Loggia of Cupid and Psyche) in Rome's Villa Farnesina, commissioned by the wealthy banker Agostino Chigi. Raphael's work there, painted circa 1517–18, blended classical mythology with Renaissance harmony, celebrating love, beauty, and the Graces—goddesses of charm, representing an ideal of feminine grace. Raimondi, Raphael's favored engraver, translated this vibrant mural into intricate black lines on copper plate, using fine hatching and cross-hatching to mimic the fresco's soft modeling, luminous skin tones, and dynamic poses. This engraving holds immense historical significance as one of the earliest and finest reproductive prints, revolutionizing art dissemination during the Renaissance. It allowed collectors across Europe to own a Raphael masterpiece, fueling the era's fascination with classical nudes and humanist ideals. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (gift of Henry Walters, 1917), it invites us to marvel at how printmaking bridged elite frescoes to the wider world.

About the Artist

Marcantonio Raimondi|Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi) · 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...