"This drawing reflects Raphael's admiration for Leonardo da Vinci and in particular for the latter's portrait of Mona Lisa. The Umbrian artist knew the work of the Florentine through his master Perugino, Leonardo's fellow pupil under Verrocchio, and in Florence he was able to study his works directly. But his tribute to the painter of La Gioconda is not a mere copy; this Head and Shoulders of a Woman presents a synthesis of the Leonardesque models, in a personal interpretation of them.

The Lombard line

The woman, shown in three-quarters profile, faces the viewer. Her arms are folded and rest on a balustrade. Her clothes are described in detail and her hair is dressed in a style that was popular in Lombardy until 1510, known as the "lenza lombarda" (Lombard line). Two partially visible columns form a tight, vertical frame on either side of the portrait. The figure stands out against the wide open-air space in the background; a landscape is suggested in the outline of a tree to the left and a sketch of some buildings to the right."

-Louvre Museum