The kneeling Virgin

A facsimile etching of a drawing by an artist from the circle of Perugino part of the 'Libretto Veneziano', now in the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice (f.51v). Lettered with attribution of the drawing to Raphael. Published in 'Disegni originali di Raffaello Sanzio [...] nella Imperial Regia Accademia di belle arti di Venezia', Venice 1829, plate XIX. A photograph of the original drawing at RCIN 851289.

The photograph shows the full-length Virgin, kneeling down, with her hands clasped in prayer.

The drawing reproduced in this print is part of the so-called "Libretto di Raffaello" or "Libretto Veneziano", 53 sheets that used to be mounted in a volume. After complicated negotiations, the sketchbook was bought by the Accademia in the 1820s, after the death of Giuseppe Bossi, who was its previous owner. A number of scholars debated the author of the drawings (with many names proposed, such as Pinturicchio, Antonio da Viterbo, Eusebio del Giorgio, Girolamo Genga) and their date. In 1984, the drawings were catalogued as by an artist contemporary to Raphael, whose juvenile works he copied in this sketchbook (see Bibliographic References).