Raffaello Sanzio Da Urbino (1483 - 1520) [AFTER]

Study of Erato, for 'The Parnassus'

Study for the figure of the muse seated to the right of Apollo in Raphael's fresco of Parnassus, painted in c.1510-11 in the Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican. In the fresco the figure is depicted holding a kithara, an attribute generally associated with Erato, the muse ruling over music.  Pen and ink on cream laid paper in an unknown hand, ca. 1650-1750, mounted to a secondary sheet. 9.5 x 11.25 in.[ 243 x 285 mm] matted, 14x 16 in. Unidentified collector stamp RU lower left (not in Lugt). Soiled, minor paper loss lower left, a few abrasions to surface, else fine.
The Parnassus is a fresco painting by Raphael in the "Stanze di Raffaello" in the Palace of the Vatican in Rome, painted at the commission of Pope Julius II. It was probably the second wall of the Stanza della Segnatura to be painted between 1509 and 1511, after La Disputa and before The School of Athens, which occupy other walls of the room. The fresco depicts Apollo surrounded by the nine muses, and the present drawing is after the original sketch of Erato, now in the Albertina (Vienna). 

The Room of the Segnatura contains Raphael's most famous frescoes. Besides being the first work executed by the great artist in the Vatican they mark the beginning of the high Renaissance. The room takes its name from the highest court of the Holy See, the "Segnatura Gratiae et Iustitiae", which was presided over by the pontiff and used to meet in this room around the middle of the 16th century. Originally the room was used by Julius II (pontiff from 1503 to 1513) as a library and private office. The iconographic programme of the frescoes, which were painted between 1508 and 1511, is related to this function. It was certainly established by a theologian and meant to represent the three greatest categories of the human spirit: Truth, Good and Beauty. Under Leo X (pontiff from 1513 to 1521) the room was used as a small study and music room, in which the pontiff also kept his collection of musical instruments. (22126)
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