Lot 5

GIOVANNI VOLPATO ITALIAN, BASSANO 1735-1803 ROME

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Lot 5
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GIOVANNI VOLPATO ITALIAN, BASSANO 1735-1803 ROME
GIOVANNI VOLPATO ITALIAN, BASSANO 1735-1803 ROME
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GIOVANNI VOLPATO ITALIAN, BASSANO 1735-1803 ROME

Estimate: $2,800 - $4,500

Starting Bid: $1,000

(0 Bids)
by Jumbo Auction House
August 2, 2026 1:00 PM PDT
Live Auction
5091 Walnut Grove Ave
San Gabriel, CA, US CA 91776

Sheet Size: 758 x 580 mm (29.84 x 22.83 in) Plate Size: 740 x 556 mm (29.13 x 21.89 in),The Disputation of the Holy Sacrament Original Artist: Raphael Intermediate Draughtsman: Giuseppe Carducci Printmaker: Giovanni Volpato Dated 1779 Medium: Engraving and Etching The Disputation of the Holy Sacrament is a copperplate print finished in 1779 by Italian engraver Giovanni Volpato, reproduced after a fresco by Raphael with Giuseppe Carducci serving as the intermediate draughtsman. Raphael's original fresco is housed in the Stanza della Segnatura, one of the four Raphael Rooms in the Vatican Museums. The chamber was decorated by Raphael under the commission of Pope Julius II. Its name derives from the Supreme Ecclesiastical Tribunal, the Signatura Gratiae et Iustitiae. Four major frescoes by Raphael adorn the room: The Disputation of the Holy Sacrament (representing Theology), The Virtues and the Law (representing Jurisprudence), The School of Athens (representing Philosophy), and Parnassus (representing Poetry). The Stanza della Segnatura was the first chamber Raphael decorated in the Vatican, exerting an immense influence on Roman art. These large-scale, intricately composed murals stand as the pinnacle of the High Renaissance grand manner, marking the outset of Raphael's illustrious Roman career. Raphael transformed a mere gallery of individual portraits into a genuine assembly of figures, each captured in dynamic poses. Every human figure and all perspective lines converge toward the central Eucharist and monstrance, expressing the core theme through natural, unmediated bodily action. Rejecting the rigid, formulaic rendering favoured by his predecessors, Raphael sought to immerse each character within the scene's narrative. He portrayed figures through gestures and facial expressions, drawing on extraordinary mastery of his craft and exhaustive studies to craft a vivid, lifelike composition that feels immediate and relatable. The circle, a quintessential sacred geometric form, recurs throughout the work: in the nimbus surrounding the dove, in the throne where Christ sits, and in the aureole encircling God the Father. All these circular motifs align along the central vertical axis together with the Holy Trinity, the Eucharist and the monstrance. The upper register exudes serenity, solemn grandeur and monumental stillness, while the lower register brims with lively movement. Individual figures are subordinated to the unified whole, upholding symmetrical balance across the assembly and embodying the rigid hierarchical order of the Church. Though the fresco is traditionally titled The Disputation of the Holy Sacrament, this name stems from an 18th-century misinterpretation of a passage by Vasari. The term "disputation" implies discord or opposition between debaters, yet the painting depicts universal veneration of the Eucharist and praise for the Holy Trinity. A more accurate reading divides the fresco into two principal zones arranged across three horizontal tiers: the upper and middle tiers together form the "Triumph of the Church", and the bottom tier depicts the "Assembly of the Faithful". The upper zone centres on the Holy Trinity. Christ sits enveloped within a vast luminous aureole, with God the Father positioned above it. Seraphim and Cherubim occupy the left and right sides of the celestial sphere respectively. The Dove of the Holy Spirit rests beneath Christ, pointing directly to the painting's focal point--the Eucharist held in the monstrance, which also serves as the vanishing point of the entire perspective construction. Four child angels flank the Dove, each holding one of the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. To Christ's left stands the Virgin Mary, and to his right Saint John the Baptist. Arrayed on either side are saints and prophets. Starting from the far left: Saint Peter, Adam (without a halo), Saint John the Evangelist, King David with his harp, Saint Stephen and Jeremiah. On the right side, ordered from the centre outward: Judas Maccabeus, Saint Lawrence, Moses bearing the stone tablets of the law, an apostle (either Saint Matthew, Saint James the Greater or Saint James the Lesser), Abraham and Saint Paul. The lower zone depicts the Assembly of the Faithful, populated by theologians, bishops, monks, abbots, popes, patrons, philosophers and anonymous lay worshippers. Not all figures have been definitively identified, so no exhaustive list of individual portraits is provided here.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $29,999 $1,000
$30,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000