Lot Essay
This large and detailed drawing copies Raphael's picture, commissioned by the Duke of Urbino, Lorenzo de'Medici, as a diplomatic gift to King Francis I of France, which is now in the Louvre (inv. 610; J. Meyer zur Capellen, Raphael. A Critical Catalogue of his Paintings. The Roman Religious Paintings, II, ca. 1508-1520, Landshut, 2005, no. 61, ill.). The painting was finished in May 1518 and presented to the King in Nantes on 10 August of that year. The present drawing shows a number of subtle differences from the painting, like the landscape in the background, which might be explained by the fact that the painting was already restored in 1540 by Primaticcio. It is also possible that this sheet copies a ricordo of the painting. Three studies for the picture and a large number of drawn and printed copies after the painting survive (ibid., p. 166).