German Zwinger, Gustav Philipp Scuola d' Athene (after Raphael). 1801. watercolour wash in sepia with outlines in black and grey pen, on laid paper (with watermark "C & I Honig"). 53.2 x 26.5 cm. Signed, dated, titled and inscribed "Gez. n. Caneig (?) v. G. P. Zwinger d. 15. Jan. 1801". Verso again signed and inscribed in pencil by another hand. Mounted under passepartout in spots. - Margins slightly irregularly trimmed and verso with traces of former mounting. With a diagonal crease at the top and several marginal tears (up to approx. 5 cm), some of which have been backed verso. Occasional brown stains. Good overall. Powerful scene focussing on a detail from Raphael's "School of Athens". Zwinger was a Nuremberg etcher and painter who worked from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th century. He was initially trained by his father, the artist Johann Eberhard Ihle (1727-1814), and then at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna under Heinrich Füger from 1799-1801. Created in the same year he graduated, our work is from his early period, although it is also conceivable that it was created during his student days. The motif after Raphael that Zwinger chose may speak in favour of this. The study of the Old and New Masters was usually obligatory when studying painting, and the scene from Raphael's fresco could be an exercise as well as an homage to the Italian master or the great ancient philosophers. According to current research, the men Zwinger chose for his scene from Raphael's fresco could not be clearly attributed to any philosopher. Watercolour, with lavage, in sepia with outline drawings in black and grey feather, on laid paper (with watermark "C & I Honig"). Signed, dated, titled and inscribed. On the verso signed again and inscribed by another hand in pencil. Spot-mounted to mat. - Margins slightly irregularly cut and on the verso with traces of former mounting. With a diagonal crease at the top and several marginal tears (up to approx. 5 cm), some closed on the verso. Occasional brown stains. Good overall. Powerful scene focussing on a detail from Raphael's "School of Athens".