The artwork

A noteworthy project by Bramante was the Palazzo Caprini in the Borgo, Rome, which became the model for many 16th-century palaces. The palace was later bought by Raphael (known as the House of Raphael; later destroyed). According to Vasari, around 1509 Bramante had designed the architectural background for Raphael's School of Athens and, in return, Raphael portrayed Bramante in the fresco in the guise of Euclid.

The appearance of the main façade is known from an engraving by Antonio Lafreri and from a partial sketch attributed to Andrea Palladio.

The palace had a five-bay, two-storey façade, with rustication (using stucco) on the lower floor which, as often in Rome, was let to shops. The upper floor had windows divided by paired Doric columns, surmounted by a full entablature. It was highly influential, providing a standard model for combining the rusticated ground floor with arched openings, characteristic of 15th-century Florentine palaces all'antica such as Palazzo Pitti, with the classical orders. The decorative inclusion of large rusticated voussoirs and a keystone in place of the lintel over the flat tops of the lower rectangular openings in the shop fronts was also a device with a long future.

Among the many buildings that feature variations of the design is Somerset House in London.

WHY BUY IT

• Magnificent, true-to-life colours
• Adds elegance to any room
• Perfect as a prestigious gift

FEATURES

Print on handmade Amalfi paper with frame
Sheet size: 29 x 42 cm (11.4 x 16.5 in)
With frame: 31 x 44 cm (12.2 x 17.3 in);
Material: artwork printed on very fine handmade Amalfi paper with deckled edges, handmade beech wood frame