Recto The Angel appearing to Joachim

This drawing depicts the elderly Joachim standing in a sparse landscape, shielding his eyes as he looks up at a divine messenger. In the background, two shepherds stand near a simple structure, witnessing the supernatural event from a distance. The sketch captures a moment of intense motion and spiritual shock through the swirling drapery of the angel and Joachim’s dynamic posture.

This scene, drawn from the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James, illustrates the intersection of the celestial and terrestrial realms through angelic mediation. In the intellectual climate of Raphael’s Rome, such depictions of divine communication were often filtered through a Neoplatonic lens, viewing the angel as a 'daimon' or intermediary between the material world and the divine Mind.