Angel, from the polyptych of St. Nicolas of Tolentino

Raphael completed this angel as part of his first documented commission, the Polyptych of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, created around 1500-1501. The altarpiece was made for the Church of Sant'Agostino in Città di Castello. It depicted the Coronation of St. Nicholas with various saints and angels in the surrounding panels.

This fragment shows Raphael's youthful style, still influenced by his teacher Perugino but already displaying notable grace and refinement. The angel's gentle expression and carefully modeled features demonstrate why Raphael received such an important commission at only seventeen or eighteen years old.

An earthquake in 1789 damaged the altarpiece, which was subsequently cut into fragments. This angel fragment is now at the Louvre in Paris. Other pieces survive in Naples and Brescia. Despite the work's fragmentary state, these remnants provide crucial evidence of Raphael's earliest achievements.