St. Margaret

In his last creative years, Raphael had so completely assimilated ancient art both in its essence and form that he was able effortlessly to transfer it to Christian themes, and so lend it new impact. Like a Roman Victoria, the saint triumphs over the monster. Attempts have been made to explain the rather coarse execution of this picture based on strong bright-dark contrasts as the work of assistants, yet Raphael himself may have offered the choice of a more expensive or a cheaper version of composition.