Copy after Raphael’s fresco representing the ‘Miracle of the Mass at Bolsena’ in the Stanza di Eliodoro (Vatican Palace, Rome, 1512-13), 1864.

The composition records the legendary event at Santa Cristina in Bolsza, where, according to medieval accounts, the consecrated bread turned red during Mass, affirming the doctrine of transubstantiation. Raphael’s original fresco presents the miracle within a narrative framework that emphasizes divine intervention and the sanctity of the sacrament.

Mariannecci rendered the fresco in transparent watercolour, translating Raphael’s complex chiaroscuro and rich coloration into a delicate, monochrome medium. The copy retains the original’s compositional balance and figural arrangement while adapting the fresco’s broad brushwork to the finer, linear qualities of watercolour.

Commissioned by the Arundel Society, Mariannecci produced eight watercolour copies of Raphael’s Vatican Stanze scenes between 1864 and 1868. This particular work was never reproduced as a chromolithograph and remained unpublished. After the Society dissolved in 1897, the watercolour passed to the National Gallery, which transferred it to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1993, where it remains in the collection.

The Vatican Stanze were initiated by Pope Julius II and continued under Popes Leo X and Clement VII. Raphael, appointed by Julius II, frescoed the Stanza della Segnatura (1508‑11) and later the Stanza di Eliodoro (1512‑13), where the ‘Miracle of the Mass at Bolsza’ is located. Mariannecci’s copy reflects the 19th‑century interest in documenting Renaissance frescoes for wider audiences.