Cunego, Domenico (1727-1803; Italian), & others, after Raphael (1483-1520; Italian)
Engravings after Paintings in the Loggie of the Vatican: Raphael and his Pupils
Album comprising 52 folios
Acquired by 1861 (?)
State Library of Victoria (H2015.139/1-52)
[reproduction: The Last Supper (H2015.13/52)]
This intact album, previously in the main SLV collection, and transferred to the library’s Pictures Collection in 2015, was an early purchase (indicated by an early version of the MPL stamp on the front cover, and superseded catalogue numbers). It may be the volume listed in the 1861 catalogue of the MPL book collection (as shown below), and was certainly in the collection by 1865.
There is a meticulous hand-written table of contents at the beginning. Each engraving has been trimmed to the margins and simply pasted into the album, with the relevant inscription pasted separately below.
The opening image, showing God dividing Light from Darkness, is inscribed below: Raph.Sanct.pinx. [l.l.]; Aloy Agricola del. [l.c.]; Aloy Cunego sculp. [l.r.]; but many subsequent plates lack any or all of these details.
The final plate, showing the Last Supper, is inscribed Jac.Bosai (?) del et sculp. (see reproduction above).
Like the other pre-Felton prints and reproductions after Raphael, this album testifies to the artist’s continuing fame in the Victorian era (see linked artist entry for details). The paintings in the Vatican Loggie, designed by Raphael and executed by his pupils, 1517-19, comprise an extensive Old Testament cycle, and a handful of New Testament scenes. Cunego, born in Verona, made engravings of Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling and many other Italian paintings.
Refs
(probably) MPL 1861, p.404 (as Old Testament engravings after Raphael by Consoni {sic}); NGV 1865, p.77
SLV catalogue (album listed as LTWEF 30; with old catalogue number on the spine: sef 779 L84 (and inside, 1330.8.16); not reproduced. Author’s ID photo shown above (taken 2019)
For Cunego, see e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domenico_Cunego (accessed 16 Nov.2019)