Angel scattering flowers on a bearded man seated on the ground

A facsimile 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.56r). The figure of the winged angel standing on the left shows similarities with one of the two angels depicted in the so-called ‘Holy Family of Francis I’, a painting attributed to Raphael and his workshop (1518) now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (inv. no.604). Published in 'Disegni originali di Raffaello Sanzio', Venice 1829, pl. XIII. A photograph of the drawing can be found at RCIN 851044.

Showing a winged angel, standing on the left, with outstretched arms, strewing flowers on a bearded man wearing a cap and seating on the ground.

The drawing reproduced in this etching 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).