Summary: The Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, preserves six drawings by Raphael. Ever since the nineteenth century, they have been widely discussed and included in every significant modern œuvre catalogue and most monographs on the artist. Like the majority of Raphael’s sheets, these drawings have also given rise to a large amount of debate. Among the subjects under constant discussion are the authorship of the early pen drawing for the painter’s first Perugian altarpiece, the Coronation of the Virgin, the compositional study for The Massacre of the Innocents, engraved by Marcantonio Raimondi, and the Angel Head associated with the fresco decoration of the Sala di Costantino in the Vatican Palace. The present exhibition, drawn entirely from our collection, focuses on drawings by Raphael, and endeavours to shed further light on his artistic legacy by including drawings by his most talented assistants, as well as some outstanding prints from the period. As part of the preparations of the exhibition a research project was carried out by András Fáy, chief conservator of the Museum of the Fine Arts, Budapest, on Raphael’s drawings as well as the Esterházy Madonna. Ultraviolet and infrared imaging provided information on the materials of the drawings and their condition, the results of which have contributed to the studies in this volume. In the case of drawings the ultraviolet radiation was used in the property of 366 nm and infrared in the range of 1100–1200 nm. In addition, the Esterházy Madonna was also examined with ultraviolet reflective imaging technique at 403 nm. As preparation for the exhibition proceeded, we realized that the flurry of recent publications on the artist, combined with the new, detailed findings on the drawings’ technique garnered from recent technical imaging, presented the case for a comprehensive reconsideration of Raphael’s Budapest drawings. Accordingly, it was decided that the accompanying publication would focus on Raphael’s six sheets and on the Esterházy Madonna, included in the exhibition for its clearly visible underdrawing. However, as six drawings and a single panel are far from sufficient to outline Raphael’s entire career, each is integrated in the context of a broader aspect of the painter’s œuvre, presented in the form of longer studies.

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