Two prophets with scrolls seated with putti holding tablets

Details

Attributed to Raffaello Sanzio, called Raphael (1483-1520)
Two prophets with scrolls seated with putti holding tablets
with inscription 'raphael URB'
red chalk, pen and brown ink, lower left corner missing, watermark scissors
7 7/8 x 14½ in. (200 x 362 mm.)

Provenance

Sir Thomas Lawrence (L. 2445).
with Samuel Woodburn, from whom purchased in 1838 by
The Prince of Orange, later King William II of Holland; sale, The Hague, 12 August 1850.
Sir John Leslie, Bt.; Sotheby's, 9 December 1936, lot 47.

Literature

S. Woodburn, A series of Fac-similes of Original Drawings, by Raffaelle da Urbino, selected from the matchless collection formed by Sir Thomas Lawrence, London, 1841, pl. 24 (which shows the lower left corner already missing).
J.D. Passavant, Raphael d'Urbin, Paris, 1860, II, p. 535 (as School of Raphael).
C. Ruland, The works of Raphael Santi da Urbino as represented in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, formed by H.R.H. The Prince Consort, Windsor, 1876, p. 16, no. IX.1.
O. Fischel, 'Some lost drawings by or near to Raphael', The Burlington Magazine, 1911/13, XX, p. 298.
A.E. Popham and J. Wilde, Italian Drawings of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries in the Collection of H. M. The King at Windsor Castle, London, 1949, under no. 858 (as doubtful).
P. Joannides, The Drawings of Raphael, with a Complete Catalogue, Oxford, 1983, p. 258 (as doubtful).
E. Knab, E. Mitsch and K. Oberhuber, Raphael, der Zeichnungen, Stuttgart, 1983, no. 389 (as Raphael, and associated with the Chigi chapel frescoes).
D. Cordelier and B. Py, Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts Graphiques, Inventaire Général des dessins Italiens, V, Raphaël, son atelier, ses copistes, Paris, 1992, under no. 292 (as Raphael ?).

Exhibited

London, Woodburn's Gallery, The Lawrence Gallery, Ninth exhibition. A catalogue of one hundred original drawings by Raffaelle, collected by Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1836.

Lot Essay

Possibly associated with Raphael's scheme for the Prophets in similar poses placed in a vaulted arch either side of the window in the upper register of the Chigi Chapel in Santa Maria della Pace, variously dated between 1511 and 1514, Rome, L. Düssler, Raphael, A critical catalogue of his pictures, wall-paintings and tapestries, London, 1971, p. 93, pl. 154a.
Dr. Paul Joannides has suggested an attribution to Timoteo Viti, who Vasari records as having assisted Raphael in the painting of the Chigi frescoes.
Copies of the left side of the Bodmer composition are in the Louvre (D. Cordelier and B. Py, op. cit., no. 292) and in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle (A.E. Popham and J. Wilde, op. cit., no. 858).

More from Old Master and 19th Century Drawings including Property from

View All