(Naples 1803-1866)
Raphael and his Muse in the Atelier, signed and dated VAbbati 1863, oil on canvas, 91 x 75 cm, framed, (GG)

Provenance:
Italian private property.
The present lot offers a glimpse into an artist’s atelier in which the Transfiguration of Christ, the Sistine Madonna, the Tempi Madonna and the Madonna of the Goldfinch are all depicted. Antique sculptures including the Discus Thrower and Leda with the Swan are also discernible. Considering the rich collection of artworks, this can only be the atelier of Italian painter Raphael. The master himself is somewhat distracted and seated on a stool, turning away from his painting towards the young woman on his lap.

Raphael was indeed rumoured to have occasionally found difficulty in concentrating on his work, unable to stop thinking about his lover. As Vasari, even in the mid-sixteenth century, hinted, “Onde facendogli Agostino Chigi, amico suo caro, dipingere nel palazzo suo la prima loggia, Raffaello non poteva molto attendere a lavorare per l´amore che portava ad una sua donna; per il che Agostino si disperava di sorte, che per via d´altri e da se e di mezzi ancora operò si, che appena ottenne, che questa sua donna venne a stare con esso in casa continuamente in quella parte dove Raffaelo lavorava; il che fu cagione che il lavoro venisse a fine.”
Only when she was present in his atelier was he able to devote more attention to his painting.