Kneeling Nude Woman

This drawing depicts a woman in profile, kneeling with her gaze and right arm directed toward the heavens. Her muscular build and expressive pose reflect the High Renaissance focus on classical anatomy and movement. To the right of the central figure, the artist has included faint additional sketches of a hand and an eye.

This is a preparatory study for the fresco cycle in the Loggia of Psyche at the Villa Farnesina. In the Renaissance, the myth of Psyche was interpreted through a Neoplatonic lens as an allegory for the human soul's journey through earthly trials toward divine union and immortality.