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.

Vatican Frescoes

Vatican Frescoes

Head of poet [from the 'Parnassus']

c.1803-1873

Engraving | RCIN 852472

A print reproducing the head of one of the poets depicted in the lower left corner of the fresco of Parnassus, painted by Raphael in c.1510-11 in the Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican. Lettered with artists' names and initial of the designer ('B'). The figure is often identified as Laura, the woman whose praise was sung by the poet Francesco Petrarch.
  • Added to the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)