After a work attributed to Raphael - Neoptolemus taking Andromache into captivity after the fall of Troy c.1853-76

This drawing depicts the chaotic embarkation of Greek soldiers and their Trojan captives following the city's destruction. At the center, a helmeted Neoptolemus grips the arm of Andromache, who hides her face in her cloak in a gesture of mourning. To the left, naked figures are being roughly handled and forced into a boat, illustrating the brutality of the conquest.

The narrative of the fall of Troy was central to Renaissance humanism, representing the tragic transition between world-cycles and the movement of ancient wisdom toward the West (translatio imperii). Within the circle of Raphael, such classical subjects served as moral and philosophical allegories for the instability of worldly power and the relentless cycle of fate, themes deeply explored in Neoplatonic interpretations of history.