Group of Youths
n.d.
Medium
Red chalk, with traces of black chalk, on tan laid paper, laid down on cream laid paper
Dimensions
39.1 × 28.4 cm (15 7/16 × 11 3/16 in.)
Classification
chalk
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
81851
Art Historical Context
In the bustling world of Renaissance Florence and Rome, Raphael (148–1520), one of the era's supreme masters alongside Leonardo and Michelangelo, created preparatory drawings like *Group of Youths*. undated sheet, executed in red chalk with subtle traces of black chalk on laid paper, captures a cluster of youthful figures in fluid, contrapposto poses. Measuring 39.1 × 28.4 cm, it exemplifies Raphael's meticulous preparatory process for larger paintings, likely serving as a study for compositions in frescoes or altarpieces such as those in the Vatican Stanze. Red chalk, a favored medium among ...
About the Artist
Raphael · 1483–1520
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known simply as Raphael, was born on March 28 or April 6, 1483, in the cultured Duchy of Urbino to the court painter and poet Giovanni Santi and his wife Màgia Ciarla. Orphaned young—his mother died when he was eight and his father when he was eleven—Raphael was raised in Urbino's refined court under the guardianship of his paternal uncle Bartolomeo. He received his ear...