Nude Studies, probably for Saint Jerome
Pen and brown ink
238 × 146 mm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest 1936
Between 1504–1508 Raphael was active mostly in Florence. He executed a whole series of pen drawings of male figures in this period, including the Saint Jerome. As part of a series of saints, it was not made for a certain commission, but as a creative exercise. The Saint Jerome belongs to Raphael’s earliest pen drawings and bears the marks of the initial, failed attempts of the young draughtsman unfamiliar with the new technique. The contrast of the confidently drawn torso and the misconstructed and awkwardly attached left arm suggests that instead of drawing from life, Raphael worked from pattern sheets preserving motifs of various famous artworks.
drawing, pen-and-ink, Raphael