The Madonna and Child with Four Saints, ca. 1509
Brown wash and white heightening over traces of black chalk, on gray-prepared paper
11 1/2 x 9 3/4 in. (29.2 x 24.8 cm)
Musée du Louvre, Paris, Département des Arts Graphiques
Probably the earliest sheet in the exhibition, this is the only drawing on display executed in a medium other than chalk. While no related painting is known, its refinement and minor adjustments — such as the change to the tilt of St. Gregory's head (left of the Virgin) — suggest it is close to a final composition. Parts of the design seem to have been transferred to another surface: pricking (a method in which tiny holes are made to allow carbon dust through the paper) appears along the contours of several figures and the architecture.