The Baptism of Christ (recto); Study of two sarcophagi (verso)

Based on its style, the study on the recto of the sheet has been dated to the later phase of the Parmigianino’s career, around 1530–1540. The execution can be compared with a red chalk study of a draped female figure in the Louvre, which is also thought to be a late work (inv. 6509; A.E. Popham, Catalogue of the Drawings of Parmigianino, New Haven and London 1971, no. 487, ill.).

The drawing does not appear to be directly related to any known painted composition by Parmigianino, but the artist treated the theme of The Baptism of Christ in a painting of 1519, in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin (M.C. Chiusa, Parmigianino, Milan, 2001, no. 98, ill.).

The attribution to Parmigianino was confirmed by Dr. David Ekserdjian when the drawing was sold at auction in 2019.