The miraculous draught of fishes

This engraving is based on one of Raphael's drawings for his famous tapestry cartoons (on loan to the Victoria & Albert Museum, London). This design, which features three cranes on the shore witnessing the miracle and the two boats and their crew far more prominently rendered, was used in the cartoon and tapestry, whereas Te Papa's engraving, showing human witnesses and distant boats, is less well-known. While the earliest prints of the scene are by Marcantonio Raimondo and follow the cartoon, a whole host of other artists made copies in the years following Raphael's death, including Battista Franco (as in this print), Antonio Fantuzzi and Andrea Schiavone.

The engraving is part of the so-called King George IV album of Old Master prints, acquired by the Dominion Museum, forerunner of Te Papa, in 1910.

Dr Mark Stocker     Curator, Historical International Art        April 2017