The seated Christ 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.18r). A print after the drawing, published in Celotti's 'Disegni Originali', can be found at RCIN 851296.

The photograph shows the full-length Christ Child, seated, with His left arm reaching for something at His right (possibly the Virgin's hand); a sketch of the head of a child is at upper right. This drawing features some studies of male heads on the verso (see RCIN 854427 for a photograph of the verso).

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).