The Virgin holding the asleep Child

A photograph of a drawing by an artist from the circle of Perugino, formerly attributed to Raphael; part of the 'Libretto Veneziano' now in the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice (f.19v).

The photograph shows the half-length Virgin, seated, holding the naked Christ Child who sleeps on her lap.

This drawing 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).

A copy of this photograph (RCIN 851198) can be found in the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection, portfolio 13 (970572)