The kneeling Virgin

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.48v). A facsimile of the drawing, published in Celotti's 'Disegni Originali', can be found at RCIN 851290.

The photograph shows the full-length Virgin, almost in profile to right, kneeling down and lifting a veil (?) with her left hand.

This drawing is on the verso of sheet depicting a lion crouching, a photograph of which can be found at RCIN 854505.

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 museum 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 Gallerie dell'Accademia catalogued the drawings as by an artist contemporary to Raphael, whose juvenile works he copied in this sketchbook (see Bibliographic References).