Raffael - Nach links schwebender Amorknabe und ein weiterer Putto, C 161, v

This drawing depicts a muscular, winged youth suspended in mid-air, looking upward with an open mouth as if in mid-flight or speech. He holds a bow against his hip, while delicate red chalk hatching defines the anatomical contours of his torso and limbs. It is a preparatory study for the frescoes in the Loggia of Psyche at the Villa Farnesina.

The figure belongs to Raphael's cycle illustrating the myth of Cupid and Psyche from Apuleius's 'The Golden Ass.' In the Renaissance Neoplatonic tradition championed by figures like Ficino, this myth was interpreted as an allegory for the human soul's (Psyche) purification and its ultimate mystical union with Divine Love (Cupid).