Five Nude Infants in Various Poses

Art Historical Context

Created around 1500, this delicate drawing captures Raphael at the very beginning of his career, when the young artist from Urbino was absorbing the graceful ideals of the High Renaissance. The sheet shows five nude infants—likely studies of putti or baby figures—twisting and turning in different poses. Such quick explorations of movement and anatomy were essential training for Renaissance painters, who often placed cherubic children in religious scenes to symbolize innocence and divine joy. Executed in metalpoint on pale pink prepared paper, the work reveals Raphael’s remarkable precision even as a teenager. The fine, silvery lines created by the metal stylus allowed him to model soft, rounded forms with great subtlety, while faint traces of charcoal suggest he first blocked out the compositions. This demanding technique, favored in the workshops of Leonardo and his contemporaries, rewarded steady hands and patient observation. Today preserved in the Metropolitan Museum’s Robert Lehman Collection, the drawing offers an intimate glimpse into how Raphael practiced the harmonious balance and lively naturalism that would soon define masterpieces like the *School of Athens*.