Tommaso Minardi

This drawing—perhaps a preparatory study for a fresco—exhibits Tommaso Minardi's admiration for Raphael in the idealized beauty and symmetrical composition of its design. However, as a professor at Rome’s Academy of St. Luke, Minardi always instructed his students not to copy or emulate the Renaissance master’s work, but instead to draw directly from nature, attempting to learn using the same techniques and principles that nurtured the master’s genius. His work thus synthesizes conservative traditions in 19th-century Italian art, particularly an interest in religious subjects, with stylistic trends from Italy’s expatriate artistic communities.