Two Putti Mocking a Monkey
Master of the Die (c.1525-1560), Two Putti Mocking a Monkey, after Raphael (but more probably after Giovanni da Udine), c. 1534, engraving. Reference: Bartsch 34, second state (of 2) [signed with the die lower right, with the letters Rapha.VR.In. lower center, Ant lower right, and the publisher’s name Lafreri Formis lower right]. In very good condition, with a tiny repaired tear lower margin, on old laid paper with an indeterminate figure in a circle watermark, 8 1/2 x 11 1/8, the sheet 9 5/8 x 12 1/4 inches.
Provenance:
ex. Coll: Francis Leventritt
Kennedy Galleries (with their stock number a62622 verso
ex Coll: unidentified collector with initials in ink WSG (not in Lugt)
This is one of four prints after the set of four tapestries commissioned by the Pope. The four finished tapistries, known as Playing Putti, hung in the Sala di Constantino in the Vatican. Finished in 1521, they represent dreams of a Golden Age under the pontificate of Leo X.
The Master of the Die, identifiable by the small die with the initials at the lower right of his engravings, has been identified as one of several members of the studio of the famed Marcantonio Raimondi in Rome. This workshop specialized in making prints in collaboration with Raphael.
Detail