Harris Schrank Fine Prints

Veneziano – Procession of Silenus

Agostino dei Musi (called Veneziano) (active 1514–1536), The Procession of Silenus (after Raphael)   ca. 1520–25 , engraving; 189 x 259 mm. Reference:
Bartsch, vol. 14, p. 192, no. 240. In excellent condition, laid at the reverse edges to an album sheet (Chatsworth), slight staining.

watermark
anchor in circle (similar to Briquet 495)

provenance
Dukes of Devonshire, Chatsworth;
their sale, Christie’s, London, December 5, 1985, lot 69

A suberb impression.

The figures of Silenus and his attendants are somewhat related to a Roman Sarcophagus at Woburn Abbey (formerly at the Villa Aldobrandi Frascati). This or a similar sarcophagus probably provided the source for the lost Raphael drawing on which this engraving is based.