Two male nudes

A photograph of a drawing by Raphael (c. 1504-1505) now in the Albertina, Vienna (inv. no. 250v). This drawing is on the verso of a depiction of a standing man (for a photograph of the recto, see RCIN 854325).

The online catalogue of the Albertina collection states that stylistically this drawing is related to the representations of fighters and a flag bearer on two sides of a sheet in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Venice and with the study in the Albertina with three men in attacking positions (inv. no. 206v). It also reported that E. Mitsch drew attention to related motifs in Leonardo's drawings as well as to the figure of a resurrected man in Michelangelo's Last Judgement. In the lower area of this sheet Raphael drew a female nude figure, whose posture is reminiscent of that of the standing Leda by Leonardo. Joannides (see Bibliographic References) identified the female figure as Eve taking the apple. He also suggested that this drawing is somehow influenced in theme by the Battle of Cascina by Michelangelo.

A copy of this photograph (RCIN 854321) can be found in the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection, portfolio 47 (970607)