Study for the figure of Dante

A photograph of a drawing now in the Albertina, Vienna (inv. no.241). The drawing is an early copy of a double-sided study sheet by Raphael currently in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle (RCIN 912760v), preparatory for the figure of Dante in the fresco of Parnassus, painted in c.1510-11 in the Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican. The Albertina copy combines the head of Dante drawn on the recto of the Windsor sheet with his drapery sketched on the verso.

Ruland (1876) catalogued the drawing as an original study by Raphael for the entire figure of Dante.