Anonymous - The head of a child to front, 1895,0915.625

This drawing captures the rounded features of a child with delicate, fine lines and dense cross-hatching to create soft shadows. The infant has a serious, focused expression and large, dark eyes looking slightly to the side. The top of the head shows thin, wispy curls, and the neck is slightly tilted, suggesting a naturalistic pose for a larger painting.

Raphael’s pursuit of the 'perfect' human form was deeply influenced by Renaissance Neoplatonism, which viewed physical beauty as a reflection of divine order. This study of an infant represents the search for the 'divine proportion' and the idealization of the soul's purity as manifested in the face of the Christ Child.