St. Paul preaching at Athens (Copy of Raphael's tapestry, reversed)
16th century
Medium
Pen and brown ink, washed with India ink
Dimensions
10 3/8 x 13 7/8 in. (26.4 x 35.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1880
Accession Number
80.3.30
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate 16th-century drawing captures Raphael’s celebrated design for the tapestry *St. Paul Preaching at Athens*, one of the celebrated Acts of the Apostles series commissioned by Pope Leo X for the Sistine Chapel. Created around 1515–1519, the original cartoons translated the dramatic biblical moment when the apostle addresses the philosophers of Athens on the Areopagus. The present sheet, executed in pen and brown ink with India-ink wash, records the composition in reverse, a common practice when weavers or collectors needed a working guide or souvenir of the celebrated designs. Alth...