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Validating the theory that Rosso spent some time in Rome, presumably between 1518 and 1521, are clear references to the frescoes of the Sistine ceiling. One of the references is the use of the gesture of Eve expelled from the Paradise for the posture of the figure of St John. This red-haired young man, who buries his hands in an expression of intense anguish, has been interpreted as a "self-portrait denied" of Rosso, who by including this figure in the painting is thus personally involved in the event represented. Examples of this exist in more or less contemporary northern figurative art, in Dürer particularly, who has been identified as one of the most probable sources of inspiration for the painting and to whom some facial characterizations are referable.
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