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Raphael — Study of drapery and three hands
Raphael

Study of drapery and three hands

This extraordinary preparatory drawing by Raphael, executed in pen and brown ink around 1511, is a rare and intimate glimpse into the working process of one of the greatest masters of the Italian Renaissance. The sheet features a supremely elegant drapery study for a figure believed to be the Roman poet Horace, appearing at the far right of the Parnassus fresco in the Stanza della Segnatura at the Vatican Palace in Rome, alongside three detailed studies of hands rendered with breathtaking precision and fluency. As part of the Payne Knight Bequest, this work carries a distinguished provenance and represents the kind of exceptionally rare preparatory material that serious collectors of Old Master drawings prize above almost all else. The combination of the drapery study and multiple hand studies on a single sheet demonstrates Raphael's meticulous preparation and offers collectors an unparalleled connection to one of the most celebrated fresco cycles in Western art history.

Medium
Pen and brown ink

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About this work

Raphael, Study of drapery and three hands

This extraordinary preparatory drawing by Raphael, executed in pen and brown ink around 1511, is a rare and intimate glimpse into the working process of one of the greatest masters of the Italian Renaissance. The sheet features a supremely elegant drapery study for a figure believed to be the Roman poet Horace, appearing at the far right of the Parnassus fresco in the Stanza della Segnatura at the Vatican Palace in Rome, alongside three detailed studies of hands rendered with breathtaking precision and fluency. As part of the Payne Knight Bequest, this work carries a distinguished provenance and represents the kind of exceptionally rare preparatory material that serious collectors of Old Master drawings prize above almost all else. The combination of the drapery study and multiple hand studies on a single sheet demonstrates Raphael's meticulous preparation and offers collectors an unparalleled connection to one of the most celebrated fresco cycles in Western art history.

Medium
Pen and brown ink
Seen at
The Gallery at 100 Great Titchfield Street, City of Westminster, England

Related themes

Classical Subject, Stanza Della Segnatura, Pen and Ink, Historical Artwork, Old Master Drawing, Papal Commission, Figure Study, Italian Renaissance, Museum Quality, Brown Ink, Drapery Study, Raphael, Hand Study, Figurative Drawing, Vatican Frescoes, 16th Century, Collector Drawing, Fine Art Works, Renaissance Master, Preparatory Study

Similar artists

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Leonardo da Vinci, Andrea del Sarto

Collected by

Emmett