The presentation of the Virgin

At one time optimistically attributed to Raphael, this drawing is actually a homage to him, as it is composed of many reversed motifs drawn from Marcantonio Raimondi's engravings of the master's frescoes, paintings and tapestries.For instance, the groom and horse comes from the predella painting of the <em>Oddi Altarpiece</em>; the figure grasping the column(top right) is taken from the <em>Expulsion of Heliodorus</em> in the Vatican stanze, and some of the architecture is derived from that in the Vatican tapestries depicting events in the lives of Saints Peter and Paul.

The inscription might suggest a Portuguese artist, but it seems more likely that it was inserted by the first owner, a Portuguese. Both the style and composition point to an artist working in Rome in the last quarter of the sixteenth century, 60-80 years after Raphael's death,  possibly in the studio of Taddeo or Federico Zuccaro. However the distinctive physiognomy of some of the figures (largish heads and enlarged eyes) suggest that the artist was more likely working in the studio of the important second-generation Mannerist painter Guiseppe Cesari (d'Arpino), whose <em>Raising of Lazarus</em>, dependent itself on a composition of Federico Zuccaro, provides many similariites in composition and types. D'Arpino's painting (Galleria Nazionale, Rome) is dated 1588- 1590.

See: Peter Tomory, <em>Old Master Drawings in the National Collection</em> (Wellington, 1983).

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art     February 2017