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 drawing captures a woman in a graceful contrapposto pose, with her weight shifted onto her right leg. She holds a cluster of drapery against her thigh with her left hand while her right arm is folded across her chest. The sketch focuses on the anatomical rendering of the torso and limbs, though the top of the head is cut off by the edge of the paper.
This study reflects the Renaissance practice of drawing from classical antiquities to recover the 'ideal' proportions of the human form. Within the Neoplatonic tradition championed in Raphael's circle, the figure of Venus represented the 'Celestial Venus,' a symbol of divine beauty and the intellectual harmony of the cosmos.
36046
Marsilio Ficino
Ficino’s Neoplatonic philosophy popularized the concept of Venus as a symbol of divine love and the soul's attraction to beauty, a concept central to Raphael's aesthetic.
Plotinus
The concept of 'Ideal Beauty' as a reflection of the divine One informs the Renaissance pursuit of perfect classical forms seen in this sketch.
Object
Oil on panel
mythological
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
https://sammlungenonline.albertina.at/ "Raffaello Santi" (KÜNSTLER_IN) Graphische Sammlung (Sammlung)
850 × 1616 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.