This library is built in the open.
If you spot an error, have a suggestion, or just want to say hello — we’d love to hear from you.
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileThis sheet shows a powerful study of a horse in mid-gallop, capturing the muscular tension and movement required for a large-scale battle scene. The artist used red chalk to create soft shadows and precise outlines, including peripheral sketches that focus on the anatomy of the eye and the horse's expressive head. These sketches served as preparations for the fresco of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in the Vatican.
This drawing reflects the Renaissance commitment to the empirical study of nature and anatomy as a foundation for high art. In the context of the Vatican's humanistic circles, such studies represented the artist's role as a natural philosopher, using 'disegno' to decode the physical world and represent the 'affetti' or inner movements of the soul.
par RAPHAEL.
Translation
by RAPHAEL.
Leon Battista Alberti
Raphael's focus on anatomical precision and the mechanics of movement follows the principles of 'historia' and naturalism established in Alberti's 'De pictura'.
Object
Oil on panel
religious
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Dorotheum: Info about artwork
2598 × 2421 px
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 2, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.