A masterfully executed 18th-century copper engraving by Domenico Cunego, depicting a youth believed to be Francesco Maria della Rovere. This piece is part of a celebrated series based on Raphael’s fresco “The School of Athens” in the Apostolic Palace, Vatican City.
This striking portrait showcases Cunego’s technical prowess in line engraving. The work captures the youth with an idealized, grazioso (graceful) expression, characterized by voluminous curly hair and delicate, androgenous facial features. The soft stippling on the cheeks and the fluid, rhythmic lines used to render the curls create a remarkable sense of three-dimensionality, honoring the original Renaissance aesthetic of harmony and beauty while maintaining Neoclassical precision.
Identified as the nephew of Pope Julius II and the future Duke of Urbino, this figure acts as a visual bridge between the viewer and the philosophers. Standing in the Pythagorean group on the lower left of the fresco, he is one of the few figures looking directly at the spectator. His presence in this series symbolizes the beauty, virtue, and noble aspiration toward knowledge typical of the Renaissance courtly ideal.
Domenico Cunego (Italian, 1726–1803)
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, 1483–1520)
Copper Engraving / Etching
Circa 1785
Scuola d’Atene (The School of Athens)
Laid paper (typical of late 18th-century European prints)
Rome, Italy
Domenico Cunego was a prominent Italian engraver of the 18th century, renowned for his ability to translate the grandeur of Renaissance frescoes into the delicate medium of copperplate. This series, published in Rome during the 1780s, served a vital role in disseminating the imagery of Raphael’s “Stanze” to a wider European audience of scholars and collectors. The plate number 15 signifies its place in this extensive pedagogical and artistic project, focusing on the “ideal beauty” defined by Raphael.
Detailed descriptions of paper quality, margins, and preservation state.
Direct history of the collection’s origin.
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