Apr 28, 2022 - Sale 2602

Sale 2602 - Lot 53

Price Realized: $ 3,250
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
MARCO DENTE (AFTER RAPHAEL)
The Fire in the Borgo.

Engraving, circa 1516. 423x575 mm; 16 3/4x22 3/4 inches. First state (of 6), before the addresses of Salamanca (second state) and Thomassin (third state), and the subsequent deterioration and heavy reworking of the plate. Trimmed on the plate mark. A very good impression of this large, scarce engraving, with strong contrasts and all the details distinct.

This engraving by Marco Dente (1493-1527) was based on Raphael's (1493-1520) fresco to decorate one of the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, Rome. The fresco was completed between 1514 and 1517 and though it is assumed that Raphael did make the designs for the complex composition, the fresco was most likely painted and completed by his assistant Giulio Romano (1499-1546). The scene depicts Pope Leo IV halting a fire in 847 with a benediction from a balcony in front of the Old St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. Bartsch 6.