Raphael, ca. 1520
DepictedRaphael,
Urbino
1483–1520
Roma
Engraving
Sheet dimensions14,2 × 11 cm
Place of originRoma
About the workHow does a work of art come into being? Is it a product of the artist’s hands, or does it exist as soon as it is an idea? The questions have been asked repeatedly in art theory since antiquity. The Renaissance artist Raphael was regarded as a thinker of images. This perception was partly shaped by a portrait of him by the copperplate engraver Marcantonio Raimondi, who worked closely with Raphael. It shows the painter among his tools, but with his hands covered. He seems lost in thought, alluding to the artist’s intellectual activity.
AccessionAcquisition 1924
Inventory numberK 1924-130
