1.2 Joseph-Charles De Meulemeester and the loggia of the Vatican
Joseph-Charles De Meulemeester (1771-1836), was a draughtsman and engraver from Bruges who lived in Rome from January 1807 to October 1819, where he devoted himself mainly to the meticulous reproduction of the frescoes decorating Raphael’s Loggia in the Vatican [3].1 Completed in 1517-1519, this loggia had thirteen bays decorated with grotesques inspired by the recently discovered frescoes of the Domus Aurea in Rome. The vaults are decorated with 52 biblical scenes that together form the so-called ‘Raphael Bible’.2 Each vault depicts four narratives about a biblical figure. These paintings were immensely prestigious and, even during Raphael’s lifetime, they were equally admired by artists as the Sistine Chapel they visited or the Roman antiquities they studied.3
De Meulemeester worked on the drawings and watercolours for twelve years with the aim of engraving the entire series and later publishing them in a luxurious, coloured edition. The project also served another purpose: to document the paintings for posterity at a time when preventive conservation and monument preservation had not yet been developed. The unglazed arches and water seepage meant that the weather had free rein, and this was particularly damaging to the already fragile and increasingly faded frescoes.
After De Meulemeester returned to his native country, King William I of the Netherlands appointed him teacher of engraving at the Academy in Antwerp. This gave him the opportunity to engrave his drawings. Unfortunately, he was unable to complete his life’s work, and published only a few engraved plates before his death. Fortunately, the publication was completed by others, as we will see below.
3
Raphael’s Loggia.
Vatican, current situation