Mercury with the signs of Gemini and Virgo

Pietro Facchetti (After: Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio); Possibly retouched by: Peter Paul Rubens)

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Pietro Facchetti (After: Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio); Possibly retouched by: Peter Paul Rubens)

Mercury with the signs of Gemini and Virgo

1602. Oil on canvas.
Not on display

The life-sized figure that represents the planet Mercury holds the caduceus in his left hand and points with the index finger of his extended right hand. Behind him, a fragment of the zodiac presents the signs of Gemini and Virgo. At the top, a winged figure points to the sky with its left hand.

This painting and its companions (P306 to P312) are copies of cartoons for the mosaics at the Chigi Chapel in the Roman church of Santa Maria del Popolo. Those cartoons were made by Raphael and the mosaics, by Alvise della Pace in 1516.

The paintings are from the royal collections and were brought to Spain by Rubens in 1603 as gifts from the Duke of Mantua to the Duke of Lerma. They were part of the decoration of Philip IV´s Salón Planetario (Planetary Hall) at the Buen Retiro Palace.

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Copias de las decoraciones de la Capilla Chigi, Santa María del Popolo, Roma. Ciclo de los Signos del Zodiaco

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Mercury with the signs of Gemini and Virgo

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Inventory number: P000309
Author: Pietro Facchetti (After: Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio)) (Possibly retouched by: Peter Paul Rubens)
Title: Mercury with the signs of Gemini and Virgo
Date: 1602
Technique: Oil
Support: Canvas
Dimension: Height: 174 cm; Width: 130 cm
Series: Copias de las decoraciones de la Capilla Chigi, Santa María del Popolo, Roma. Ciclo de los Signos del Zodiaco
Provenance: Given by the Duke of Mantua, Vincenzo I Gonzaga, to Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, 1st Duke of Lerma, 1603; Apartment of the 1st Duke of Lerma in the Royal Palace, Valladolid, 1603; Royal Collection (Palace of the Ribera, Valladolid, 1607; Palace of Buen Retiro, Madrid, 1635; Buen Retiro, 1701, [no. 211]; Buen Retiro, 1794, no. 825)
Entry date: 1839

Bibliography +

Inventario Palacio Nuevo. 1794, Madrid, 1794.

Madrazo, Pedro de, Viaje artístico de tres siglos por las colecciones de cuadro, Daniel Cortezo y Cª, Barcelona, 1884, pp. 102.

Martín González, Juan José, Exposicion Conmemorativa del IV Centenario del Nacimiento de Rubens, Dirección General del Patrimonio, Valladolid, 1977.

Barghahn, Barbara Von, Philip IV and the Golden House of the Buen Retiro in the Tradition of Caesar, Garland PublishingInc, Nueva York. Londres, 1986, pp. 210/ lám.817.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Museo del Prado. Inventario general de pinturas (I) La Colección Real, Museo del Prado, Espasa Calpe, Madrid, 1990, pp. nº11.

Ruiz Manero, José María, Pintura italiana del siglo XVI en España, Fundación Universitaria Española, Madrid, 1996, pp. 129.

Wood, Jeremy, Rubens. Copies and Adaptations from Renaissance and Later Artists. Raphael and his School, Corpus Rubenianum, Londres, 2010, pp. 167-194 (179-180, nº 8).

Simal López, Mercedes, La presencia de copias en el palacio del Buen Retiro durante el reinado de Felipe IV, Actas del Congreso internacional Las copias de obras maestras de la pintura en las colecciones de los Austrias y el Museo del Prado. Junio 2017, Madrid, 2021, pp. 158-167 (159-160).

Other inventories +

Inv. Testamentaría Carlos II, Buen Retiro, 1701-1703. Núm. [211].
[211] Ottra Pintura del mismo tamaño [dos varas de alto y vara y media de ancho] y marco [negro] del planetta mercurio Con el signo de Geminis tasado en diez Doblones ... 600

Inv. Testamentaría Carlos III, Buen Retiro, 1794. Núm. 825.
Otra [pintura], con el Planeta Mercurio, y Signo de Geminis, igual à las anteriores [dos varas y tercia de alto y vara y media de ancho]...250

Museo Real de Pinturas a la muerte de Fernando VII, 1834. Núm. 825.
DEPÓSITO GRANDE / ESCUELA ITALIANA [...] Depósito de entresuelo [...] Ocho cientos veinte y cinco. El Planeta Mercurio y el signo de Géminis / / Lº / 200

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1854-1858. Núm. 11.

Inv. Real Museo, 1857. Núm. 11.
Copia de Rafael. / 11. Mercurio, con los signos géminis y virgo / Alto 6 pies, 3 pulg; ancho 4 pies, 8 pulg

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1872-1907. Núm. 377.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1910. Núm. 309.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1942-1996. Núm. 309.