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

      MONOGRAMMIST A.P. (ACTIVE 1555)

      A triton blowing a conch shell

      dated 1555

      Etching | 27.5 x 14.9 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 853739

      An etching by the monogrammist A.P. catalogued by Ruland (1876) as related to a design element in the Loggia, designed by Raphael and executed by his workshop (c.1517-19) in the Vatican. Dated at bottom left. Trimmed within platemark. Annotated on verso.

      Three other etchings thought to reproduce decorative features from the loggia by this printmaker are also known; see RCINs 853729, 853733 and 853738.

      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)

        Monogrammist A.P. (active 1555) (etcher)

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

      • annotation: [both annotations illegible] [verso, top centre; bottom left, in ink]

      • 27.5 x 14.9 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)
        • Natural Sciences & Mathematics
          • Biological sciences
            • Zoology
              • Animals
                • Shells (animal)
                  • Conch Shells
        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.130

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