Group of 14 copper engraved plates.

With contemporary hand colour. Beautiful plates, scarce with vibrant original hand-colour: a complete set of pilasters from the first part of the Loggie di Rafaele nel Vaticano series.

From the first series of Camporesi's spectacular series of decorative engravings for Raphael's Loggie, consisting of 13 bays in the Pope's private apartments, beautifully decorated by Bramante and, upon his death in 1514, finished by Raphael and his pupil Giovanni da Udine until 1519.

Loggie de Raphaele nel Vaticano was a work commissioned by Pope Clement XIII, at the bidding of Catherine the Great, to portray one of the best kept secrets of the Renaissance. The plates depict the pilaster frescoes, in stucco relief, of the doorways and windows. They are renowned for their highly stylised portrayal of Classical and Biblical scenes and figures. The fanciful "grotesqueness" of Raphael's and mainly da Udine's designs show how much they were inspired by the recently discovered Golden House of Nero. Indeed the term "grotesque" was born out of the Loggie, having been applied to it due to the similarity of the designs in the subterranean rooms or 'grottoes' of Nero's Palace and these pilaster's frescoes. Some commentators place these designs amongst the defining pieces of the Italian Renaissance with Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel and Massacio's Carmine Church.

14 copper engraved plates, with beautiful contemporary hand colour, drawn by Gaetano Savorelli and Pietro Camporesi, engraved by J. Ottaviani. Framed and glazed, overall size: 56 by 123 cm

Brunet IV, 1110; Berlin Kat 4068 & 4066; RIBA (Early printed books), 2710; Raphael Invenit: Stampe da Rafaello (1985) Ottaviano 2-15; Raphael: Reproduktions-graphik aus vier Jahrhunderten (Coburg 1984) p.104 & no.245.