Seated Madonna and Child, ca. 1500 – 1502

About the Work

In this very early drawing, Raphael employed a stylus, chalk, and finally pen and ink to develop a Madonna with the Child performing a gesture of blessing – in its majestic frontality a classical altarpiece motif. Probably working from a pictorial model, he made a preliminary sketch of a section of the depiction and then reworked and completed it. In style the drawing is highly reminiscent of the work of the older painter Pietro Perugino. The tender manner in which the Virgin holds her Child is the only narrative element in this stringent depiction.