In 1904 McKim engaged the American artist H. Siddons Mowbray to execute the twelve paintings that would be inserted into the Rotunda ceiling. “It will necessitate a period of study in Rome, of examples of decoration of the same period,” Mowbray told McKim.
Mowbray made this copy of a portion of Raphael’s frescoed ceiling in the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican, making some adjustments to the colors of the borders. For the four roundels in the dome of the Rotunda of Morgan’s Library, Mowbray would adapt Raphael’s work and portray female personifications of the humanist ideals of art, science, philosophy, and religion.
H. Siddons Mowbray (1858–1928)
Copy after Raphael’s vault of the Stanza della Segnatura, 1904 or 1905
Watercolor and opaque watercolor, with gold, over graphite
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Jones; 1989.20