This website presents our knowledge and research on this important aspect of the Royal Collection. As of April 2026 it will not be regularly updated and new research on this topic will sit within the main website.

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Vatican Frescoes

Vatican Frescoes

      ATTRIBUTED TO AGOSTINO DEI MUSI (C. 1490-AFTER 1536)

      A triton and a nereid

      c.1517-30

      Engraving | 13.8 x 17.0 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 853740

      A print depicting a triton and a nereid catalogued by Ruland (1876) as by Agostino Veneziano and as related to a design element in the Loggia, designed by Raphael and executed by his workshop (c.1517-19) in the Vatican; it may perhaps be related to a now lost part of the decoration on an exterior pilaster, another element of which is reproduced in a print by Cherubino Alberto (see RCIN 853741 for an impression of this print). Trimmed on all sides. Annotated on verso.

      Bartsch tentatively attributed this print to Marcantonio Raimondi.

      The repeating sequence of decoration in the Logge - see Dacos 2008 (Bibliographic References) for more information - is strongly influenced by the antique; Raphael had studied antique sculpture and painting in Rome.

      • Creator(s)

        Attributed to Agostino dei Musi (c. 1490-after 1536) (engraver)

        After a work by the workshop of Raphael (1483-1520) (artist)

      • annotation: 129 [verso, centre, in ink]

      • 13.8 x 17.0 cm (sheet of paper)

      • Added to the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)

      • Subject(s)
        • Arts, Recreation, Entertainment & Sport
          • Decorative motifs
            • Grotesques
        • Religion & Theology
          • Religions and faiths
            • Religions of antiquity
              • Classical mythology
                • Triton (myth)
        Object type(s)
          • visual works
            • prints
      • Bibliographic reference(s)

        Davidson 1985 : Davidson, Bernice F. Raphael's Bible. A Study of the Vatican Logge, 1985 pp.27-38

        Dacos 2008: Dacos, N., The Loggia of Raphael: A Vatican Art Treasure, 2008 pp.15-135

        Other number(s)

        Ruland p.232 B.131

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