Both of the prepatory sketches examined are known to be studies executed between c1529-1535 at which time Beccafumi was engaged on a fresco series depicting scenes from Ancient Roman history commissioned for the Palazzo Pubblico's Sala del Concistoro in Siena. The work titled Head of an Old Man has been identified in the background of the composition illustrating The Murder of Spurius Maelius and the study of Head of Cincinnatus is central to this narrative painting. Technical analysis and examination of the studies in the collection at the Fogg Art Museum is currently being carried out for clarification of the methods and materials of the artist's craftmanship; comparative assessment with other known prepatory studies and reference to documentary sources is also being used to supplement this research. Present findings indicate that an emulsion binder of protein and oil may have been utilized by Beccafumi and the report focuses on analysis pertaining to this inference and to the significance of examination in the context of the artist's own working methods and within the evolution of oil painting in the Italian Renaissance.