Raffaello - Apostelkopf (Studie für die Transfiguration), 242

The study focuses on the intense, downward gaze and furrowed brow of an elderly figure, capturing a moment of profound psychological weight. Finely rendered lines define the curls of the beard and the anatomy of the neck, showing how the figure reacts to a miraculous or distressing event. This head belongs to one of the apostles who, in the finished altarpiece, witnesses the struggle to heal a possessed boy on earth while Christ is glorified above.

This study reflects the High Renaissance fascination with 'affetti'—the physical manifestation of the soul's inner states. In the context of the Transfiguration, it illustrates the human condition’s position between the demonic/earthly realm and the celestial light, a theme central to Neoplatonic thought and the 'lumen gratiae' discussed by Renaissance theologians.