The Massacre of the Innocents, c.1510 (red chalk over leadpoint, stylus and pouncing in black...

A red chalk study for an engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi (see RCIN 830887). On the verso, a pen and ink study for a salver with marine deities. Raphael and Marcantonio Raimondi appear to have had a close working relationship, with the former providing the latter with a number of designs to be reproduced as prints - thus widely disseminating Raphael's work and helping to ameliorate his fame. Raimondi's print corresponds closely to this drawing; there are significant differences between it and an earlier pen study of the same subject by Raphael in the British Museum (inv.no.1860,0414.446). The drawing on the verso, a sketch of battling creatures, was likely intended as a design for metalwork. There is a related drawing in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (WA1846.211) which was traditionally attributed to Gianfrancesco Penni, a member of Raphael's workshop. Evidence shows that Raphael was providing designs for metalwork for his patron Agostino Chigi in 1510; this design may perhaps be connected with a Chigi commission.