Invention and Sexuality in the Raphael Workshop: Before the Modi

Abstract

This essay has a twofold purpose, evidentiary and interpretive. First, it reconstructs three erotic compositions from the Fossombrone sketchbook that had been effaced by a censor. These drawings from Raphael's circle are released, first from their heavy coats of obliterating paint and ink, then from the prevailing assumption that they merely copy the Modi (the sexually explicit engravings that dominate discussion of Renaissance erotic art). I emphasize the significant variations among these drawings and their independence from existing models, ancient and modern. This raises further issues: what is the relation between copying the antique, life drawing and pure invention? Between artistic varieta and sexual virtuosity? Arguing that eroticism was central to the concerns and practices of Raphael's workshop, I relate these uncovered drawings not only to the later Modi but to earlier designs by Cesare da Sesto, Giovanni da Udine and Raphael himself.