A study of drapery for a sitting figure

A photograph of a drawing by Raphael (c. 1512-1513) depicting a study of drapery for a sitting figure now in the Uffizi, Florence (inv. no. 1325F). Annotated on the verso.

Joannides (see Bibliographic References) suggested similarities between this study and the drapery forms of St Elizabeth in a drawing by Raphael for the 'Madonna dell'Impannata', now in the Royal Library, Windsor (RCIN 912742, see also RCIN 851077 for a photograph of it). The final painting, generally attributed to Raphael's workshop after a design by the master (c.1513-16), is now in the Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti, Florence (inv. no.94). A photograph of the painting can be found at RCIN 851074.

In the catalogue of the drawings of the Uffizi (see Bibliographic References), a similarity is noted between this study and the drapery of one of the sibyls frescoed in the church of Santa Maria della Pace, Rome. Raphael was commissioned, probably early in 1511, by the banker Agostino Chigi to decorate his chapel in Santa Maria della Pace. The initial plan of decoration for the chapel included frescoes, two bronze roundels and an altarpiece; however, whilst Raphael executed some designs for the altarpiece, which was to depict the resurrection, it was never executed, and the bronze roundels, whilst cast, appear to never have been installed. The frescoes comprise two registers, with four prophets on the top (flanking a window) and four sybils below. According to Vasari, portions of the frescoes were painted by Timoteo Viti.