Mother and Child, Figures Fighting (Study for the Rape of Dinah?)

According to Genesis (34:1–31), Dinah’s brothers, the sons of Jacob, slayed the Hivites as retribution for her rape. Fra Bartolomeo realized this dynamic sketch in preparation for a painting with this subject; though now lost, the painting is recorded by an early replica that was executed by the artist’s pupil Giuliano Bugiardini (ca. 1531, oil on canvas, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie, Vienna). The dramatic scene —extremely rare in Italian Renaissance art— was treated by Fra Bartolomeo using only a vibrant red chalk and focusing in particular on the figures’ energetic movement and classical proportions. The present sheet includes several separate studies: at the left center, the artist depicted a standing woman holding a child, while at the extreme right he portrayed a standing man striking a kneeling figure with his right hand.