Raphael's drawing of the Madonna and Child

Raphael's drawing of the Madonna and Child, with St Elizabeth and another female saint, was drawn in metalpoint c.1512. It is a preparatory study for the Madonna dell'Impannata, painted to Raphael's designs by his assistants and now in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence. This is one of 25 or so drawings by the great Renaissance master, Raphael (1483-1520), in the Royal Collection. Acquired by George III in 1762, it was previously in two great Italian drawings collections - that of the Bonfiglioli and the Sagredo families - as well as that of the British Consul in Venice, Joseph Smith