Alcibiades and a study of drapery, after Raphael, 1946,0713.500

The muscular figure is depicted wearing a classical helmet and standing in an elegant contrapposto pose. This work is a sixteenth-century study after a figure designed by Raphael for the 'School of Athens' fresco in the Vatican. To the left of the figure, the artist has meticulously rendered the play of light and shadow across a separate piece of hanging fabric.

Alcibiades is a central figure in the Neoplatonic tradition, most notably appearing in Plato's 'Symposium' as a symbol of the tension between physical beauty and the pursuit of philosophical wisdom under Socrates. In the context of the School of Athens, he represents the active political life being drawn toward the contemplative life of the mind.