Watercolour, Copy after Raphael’s fresco representing the ‘Deliverance of St Peter from Prison’ in the Stanza di Eliodoro (Vatican Palace, Rome, 1511-12). Signed in pencil on the paperboard in the right corner ‘C. Mariannecci’, 1864.

Watercolour on paperboard. Copy after the fresco of the ‘Deliverance of St Peter from Prison’. The scene is contained in a lunette decorated at the edge with marble elements above a doorway. The scene is divided into three parts. The centre of composition shows the angel waking St Peter, who is chained up in a Roman prison. On the right, the angel guides him past the sleeping guards, and on the left the guards awake to find him gone pointing in the direction of the cell. The watercolour is signed in pencil on paperboard in the bottom right corner ‘C. Mariannecci’ .

Saint Peter liberated from a Roman prison by an angel.

National Gallery, 1993.

Watercolour made for the Arundel Society in 1864; given in 1897 to the National Gallery, London; transferred to the V&A in 1993.

This watercolour is a copy made by Cesare Mariannecci for the Arundel Society after one of the scenes in the Stanza di Eliodoro in the Vatican, representing the ‘Deliverance of St. Peter from Prison’ which was executed by Raphael in 1511-12.

Original work

The decoration of the Vatican Stanze was first commissioned by Pope Julius II (1443-1513) and continued by his successors Pope Leo X (1475-1521) and Clement VII (1478-1534). The second Stanza to be frescoed was the Stanza di Eliodoro (1511-1514), and was mostly decorated by Raphael (1483-1520). The walls are painted with scenes showing God's benevolence towards the Roman Church during history. The room, designated for official hearings, had to underline the legitimacy of the Pope's power as the one and only Christian chief.

By the nineteenth century, Raphael's Roman style was mostly associated with the grandiosity of the wall frescoes of the Stanze Vaticane.

Arundel Society

The Arundel Society was founded in 1848 to promote knowledge of the art through the publication of reproductions of works of art. The Society was named after Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel (1585-1646), important aristocratic patron and collector of the early Stuart period. The Society was intended to reach the largest possible audience through these reproductions. Subjects were chosen because of their instructive meaning rather than their popularity. In addition to copies of famous paintings, the Society published an English translation of Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the most excellent painters, made in 1850 by Giovanni Aubrey Bezzi (1785-1789), one of the founding members of the Society.

The Arundel Society popularised Renaissance art, particularly that of the Italian Old Masters, echoing a growing interest for ‘primitives’ in the second half of the nineteenth century. The founding members of the Arundel Society were all acknowledge experts on Italian art. For instance, Sir Charles Eastlake (1793–1865; painter and art administrator), whose house was the meeting point of the Society, was Director of the National Gallery in London from 1855 until 1865 and during his tenure, he began one of the finest collections of Italian art in Britain.
Other preeminent members were John Ruskin (1819-1900, English writer, painter and collector), who supervised projects including the watercolours series of the Upper and Lower Church in Assisi, and Sir Austen H. Layard (1817-1894; English archaeologist, politician, diplomat, collector and writer). Layard lived and travelled in Italy for many years and his knowledge of the country’s art was extensive. It was thanks to Layard’s funding that the Society were able to publish copies of the watercolours made at their direction using chromolithography. Although photography was increasingly popular, as photographs could only be made in black and white, chromolithography was chosen as it was felt to be closer to the principals of the Arundel Society: they were coloured and had the aura of traditional prints. In this way, copies were more like the originals.

The Society reached the height of its popularity in the 1860s. However, by the end of the century, it faced mounting criticism with regards to the accuracy of its watercolour copies. The Society ceased its activities in 1897. At this time the availability of second-hand prints had increased and the Society found it difficult to find market for its chromolithographs. Moreover, photographic reproductions were becoming increasingly popular thanks to technical advances. The last display of the Arundel Society’s watercolours took place at the National Gallery and when the Society was dissolved, some watercolours were given to that Institution, while others were acquired by the then South Kensington Museum (now V&A). The outstanding watercolours were transferred from the National Gallery to the V&A in the 1990s.

In 1864, Cesare Mariannecci, was commissioned by the Arundel Society to copy some of the frescoes painted by Raphael in the Vatican Stanze in watercolour so as to convey the effect of the fresco technique. The artist gave a polished version of the subject of the ‘Deliverance of St Peter from Prison’, reproducing the lively quality of light illuminating the nocturnal scene in the original fresco, and did not show any sign of deterioration in his copy.

The watercolour was later transposed as a chromolithograph which was published in 1865 by Storch and Kramer in the Arundel Society’s issue dedicated to the Roman school. The issues were available to the public by subscription. When the Arundel Society was dissolved in 1897, the original watercolours were given to the National Gallery, which eventually transferred them to the V&A in 1993 where they have remained since then.

Commissioned by the Arundel Society

This watercolour is a copy after the fresco representing the ‘Deliverance of St Peter from Prison’ in the Stanza di Eliodoro, which was executed by Raphael in 1511-12.

In 1864, Cesare Mariannecci (c.1819-c.1894) was commissioned by the Arundel Society to copy it. From 1864 to 1868, the artist copied eight scenes from both the Stanza della Segnatura and the Stanza di Eliodoro for the Arundel Society. This watercolour was later transposed as a chromolithograph which was published in 1865 by Storch and Kramer. When the Arundel Society was dissolved in 1897, the watercolour was given to the National Gallery, who eventually transferred it to the V&A in 1993, where it has remained since.

The decoration of the Vatican Stanze was first commissioned by Pope Julius II (1443-1513) and continued by his successors Pope Leo X (1475-1521) and Clement VII (1478-1534). The first Stanza to be frescoed was the Stanza della Segnatura (1508-1511), and was mostly decorated by Raphael (1483-1520).

E.259-1995