Raffaello - Spielende Putten, 246r

This sheet features multiple sketches of children interacting, rendered with fluid, light strokes in pen or chalk. The artist explores anatomical variety and physical movement, ranging from fully realized figures to faint, exploratory outlines of limbs and torsos. The composition captures the soft forms of infancy and the energetic, uninhibited motion of young children at play.

In the Renaissance, putti represented 'spiritelli'—vital spirits described in Neoplatonic and medical texts as the intermediaries between the physical body and the soul. Raphael’s mastery of these figures reflects the contemporary philosophical interest in the animation of matter by divine or natural spirits, often associated with the concept of 'Amore' (Love).