Apollo on Parnassus, Surrounded by the Muses and Poets

Description

Famous artworks replicated in print became more famous with each copy. While Marcantonio Raimondi was sued by Albrecht Dürer for illegally copying his woodcuts, he worked directly with Raphael to create printed versions of the master’s paintings and drawings for dissemination. The fresco of Apollo on Parnassus would have been inaccessible even to buyers who could afford this large print, as it was in Pope Julius II’s personal library in the Vatican. The engraving explicitly mentions this; the inscription on the doorway beneath the painting reads Raphael Pinxit in Vaticano, MAF (Raphael painted [the fresco] in the Vatican and Marcantonio made [the engraving].)

Medium

Engraving in black on ivory laid paper