Studies for a male head

A photograph of a drawing depicting studies for a male head now in the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice (inv. no. 38 verso). This drawing is on the verso of a sheet depicting a child (see RCIN 851295 for a photograph of the recto). Annotated on the verso. 

Ferino Padgen (see Bibliographic References) noted that this was probably a life drawing, which appears typical of Perugino's workshop. The head at the bottom of the sheet has been associated with a figure in the 'Canonizzazione di Santa Cecilia' in the Piccolomini Library, painted by Pinturicchio and his workshop (1502-07/08) with the aid of preparatory drawings by Raphael in Siena Cathedral. See RCIN 850010 for a photograph of the fresco.

The decoration of the Piccolomini library was commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Todeschino Piccolomini (later Pope Pius III) in 1502 from Raphael's older Perugian contemporary Pinturicchio. The frescoes illustrate events in the life of Pope Pius II (Enea Silvio Piccolomini), the Cardinal's uncle. Vasari credited Raphael with executing 'some drawings and some cartoons' for the library at the express request of Pinturicchio. Scholarly opinion has been divided over the attribution of preparatory drawings for the frescoes, but at least five drawings convincingly related to the decorative scheme are considered to be by Raphael (see Bibliographic References).

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).

The Gallerie dell'Accademia catalogued this drawing as the only sheet in the Sketchbook possibly by Raphael rather than a copy after him.