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About This Work
Two women and a small child are depicted in a moment of urgent movement. One woman kneels with her arm outstretched toward an unseen event, while another woman stands behind her, placing a hand on a child who has hands raised in prayer. The sketch focuses on the anatomical tension and the heavy folds of the figures' classical-style garments.
This drawing is a preparatory study for the Stanza dell'Incendio di Borgo, part of a larger decorative program in the Vatican that visually synthesized Christian history with Renaissance Neoplatonism. It reflects the High Renaissance emphasis on 'disegno' as a tool to translate human emotion and natural movement into an idealized, harmonious composition.
Connected Texts
Marsilio Ficino
Raphael’s work in the Vatican Stanze was shaped by the Neoplatonic atmosphere of the Roman court, which was deeply influenced by Ficino’s ideas on the soul's expression through the body.