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| Giulio Romano Portrait of Giovanni Francesco Penni for fresco of The Allocution of Constantine Sala di Constantino, Vatican Palace ca.1520 drawing British Museum |
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| Giovanni Francesco Penni David and Bathsheba for fresco in the Loggia of Leo X, Vatican Palace ca. 1517 drawing British Museum |
"The thirteen-bay Loggia of Leo X designed by Raphael and executed by a team of assistants and specialists between 1516 and 1519 was an innovatory scheme of great richness that had an incalculable influence on many different areas of later art. It combines a pseudo-antique setting of decorative frescoes and stuccoes, much inspired by the Golden House of Nero, with an extensive biblical cycle. Its vaults contain fifty-two small frescoes comprising forty-eight scenes from the Old Testament and four from the New. . . . The execution of the vault frescoes, probably datable 1516-1517, is by a number of different young artists. They are listed by Vasari, but, according to him, all worked under Giulio Romano's control to Raphael's designs. However, the visual evidence suggests that the supervisor was not Giulio but Raphael's other major pupil, Giovanni Francesco Penni. The precise process of creation, communication and quality control has been much disputed but to this writer the most likely scenario is that Raphael made initial sketches in pen or chalk and that these were developed by Penni into modelli to be given to the executing artists."
– from the catalogue of a 2009 exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada – From Raphael to Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome, edited by David Franklin
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| Giovanni Francesco Penni Jacob's Dream for fresco in the Loggia of Leo X, Vatican Palace ca. 1516-19 drawing British Museum |
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| Giovanni Francesco Penni Baptism of Christ for fresco in the Loggia of Leo X, Vatican Palace ca. 1516-19 drawing British Museum |
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| Giovanni Francesco Penni Portrait of Pope Clement I with the features of Pope Leo X (Giovanni de' Medici, reigned 1513-21) fresco, executed 1520-21 Sala di Constantino, Vatican Palace |
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| Giovanni Francesco Penni and Raphael Madonna with the Blue Diadem ca. 1510-11 oil on panel Louvre, Paris |
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| Giovanni Francesco Penni Holy Family with the Book ca. 1512-15 oil on panel Palazzo Pitti, Florence |
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| Giovanni Francesco Penni Madonna of Divine Love ca. 1518 oil on panel Museo di Capodimonte, Naples |
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| Giovanni Francesco Penni God dividing light from darkness before 1528 drawing British Museum |
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| Giovanni Francesco Penni Head of a Young Man before 1528 drawing British Museum |
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| Giovanni Francesco Penni St Luke modello for grisaille fresco Sala dei Palafrenieri, Vatican Palace ca. 1516-17 drawing British Museum |
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| Giovanni Francesco Penni Triumph of Bacchus (after lost Raphael drawing) ca. 1517 drawing British Museum |
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| Giovanni Francesco Penni Toilet of Venus ca. 1520-28 drawing British Museum |
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| Giovanni Francesco Penni Portrait of a young man ca. 1527 oil on panel Hunter College, New York |
"Curiously few portraits painted by Raphael's students between the premature death of their master, on 6 April 1520, and the Sack of Rome in 1527, have survived. No evidence remains of portraits painted by Giulio Romano in Rome after Raphael's death, even though Giulio excelled in this genre . . . The only artist from Raphael's studio who left portraits made during this period is the Florentine Giovanni Francesco Penni, known as "il Fattore." . . . These portraits have the refinement that characterizes the works executed during the early reign of Pope Clement VII [Giulio de' Medici, reigned 1523-1534]. . . . The models for the paintings in Dublin and New York did not belong to the Roman aristocracy and could not be portrayed as such; thus, the artist opted for a more austere presentation that was more appropriate for a figure from the bourgeoisie. They nevertheless reflect the relationships maintained between artists and intellectuals in the Rome of the Medici popes."
– from the catalogue of a 2009 exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada – From Raphael to Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome, edited by David Franklin