Christ speaking with Saint Peter, who kneels before him in adoration and with his hands joined in prayer, while the Apostles draw up their nets behind him, after Raphael's Stanza dell'incendio del Borgo, from a series of 15 plates, depicting Raphael's works for the Vatican stanze and the Sistine Chapel tapestries 1650 - 1670

This print, made by Pietro Santi Bartoli after Raphael, is one of fifteen depicting scenes from the Vatican. Its lines were cut into a copper plate, with a burin or similar tool, then inked, and printed onto paper. The original image was made using a traditional artistic technique, fresco, which is painting on fresh plaster. It took many skilled hands to complete the Vatican stanze and Sistine Chapel tapestries, with Raphael leading a workshop of assistants and specialist craftsmen. Bartoli made the print later, in the 17th Century, which meant that this biblical scene could be widely distributed and consumed by the masses. The fine network of etched lines adds a tactile and material quality to the print, as well as an ethereal quality to the overall image. Bartoli was trying to capture the spirit of Raphael’s fresco in a very different, more repeatable medium. Examining the materials and processes of this print, alongside the original fresco, gives us a richer appreciation of the labor and creative decision-making behind it, revealing links between art, craft, and the means of production.