Apollo - Young Man with a Mirror

Marcantonio Raimondi spent his apprentice years in the studio of Francesco Franci in Bologna. Northern artists also had a major impact on his artistic formation. The work of Albrecht Dürer was a particularly important source of inspiration and knowledge. A key period for his artistic career began after the engraver had moved to Rome, where he worked in close collaboration with Raphael. The theme of the Prague drawing is not clear. It depicts a youth accompanied by two other figures. The absence of attributes, however, make its thematic definition impossible. A number of Raimondi’s drawings are kept in European collections, whose style is close to this drawing’s artistic treatment. By way of comparison, this work can be dated to the artist’s early career.