Nude woman viewed from behind holding fabric which blows behind her, looking at male nude standing in contrapposto in front of her.
Medium
Engraving; only state
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 13/16 × 1 13/16 in. (7.2 × 4.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.97.125
Tags
Art Historical Context
This intimate engraving, created by Marcantonio Raimondi after a design by the High Renaissance master Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino), captures a poetic moment between two nude figures around 1500–1534. Viewed from behind, a graceful woman clutches flowing fabric billowing in the wind, her gaze fixed on a male nude striking a classic contrapposto pose—weight shifted to one leg, hip cocked naturally—in the manner of ancient Greek sculptures. The tiny sheet (just 2 13/16 × 1 13/16 inches) exemplifies the Renaissance fascination with idealized human anatomy and harmonious proportions. Raim...
About the Artist
Marcantonio Raimondi|Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi) · 1475–1534
Marcantonio Raimondi (c. 1480–1534), born near Bologna, Italy, emerged as one of the Renaissance's premier engravers, revolutionizing printmaking through his mastery of reproductive techniques. He trained in the workshop of the goldsmith, painter, and niellist Francesco Francia, whose influence is evident in his early engravings, such as the goldsmith-like shading in *Pyramus and Thisbe* (1505), h...