The Triumph of Bacchus and Silenus

An engraving on 2-joined sheets of paper. This print is a copy (in reverse) of a plate engraved by Cornelis Bos dated 1543 (RCIN 851822), the original source of which is still a matter of dispute. Some scholars have suggested that it may be based on a drawing by Maarten van Heemskerck (Schelé 1965, pp.126 ff; New Hollstein, van Heemskerck, no.507), whereas others think it may derive from a design by Giulio Romano inspired by the Antique (Massari 1993, under no.203). The present print, signed with a false monogram of Marcantonio Raimondi (lower left centre, MAF) and crediting Raphael as the inventor of the composition (lower right centre, R.V.I.), is hitherto undescribed.