SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO
(b. 1485, Venezia, d. 1547, Roma)

Holy Family with a Donor and the Infant St John (recto)

1530-33
Black chalk, heightened with white, 267 x 219 mm
Royal Collection, Windsor

The intended purpose of this draft, depicting the figures of the Holy Family, is not known. A striking feature is the motif of the globe, which characterizes Christ as the ruler of Heaven and Earth. On the verso of the sheet, Sebastiano drew a separate study of the infant Jesus in a larger scale.