The figures on the recto relate to the picture of Pope Urban VIII visiting the Gesù painted by Sacchi in 1641, painted in collaboration with Filippo Gagliardi and Jan Miel, now in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in the Palazzo Barberini, Rome (fig. 1), A. D'Avossa, Andrea Sacchi, Rome, 1985, pls. LII-LIII.
The young boy is a study for the figure of Maffeo Barberini, son of Taddeo and great-nephew of Pope Urban VIII, standing on the steps of the church. The black page can be seen peering out of a carriage window in the foreground. The hands are those of the Pope himself. The study for the priest on the verso does not seem to be related to any figure in the picture.
Sacchi worked for the Barberini and painted the ceiling of the Divine Wisdom in the Map Room of their palace in Rome. Sacchi's particular patron in the Barberini family was Cardinal Antonio without whom, according to Passeri, 'he would [have] lived like a beggar', F. Haskell, Patrons and Painters, London, 1971, p. 55. Sacchi accompanied the Cardinal on his travels and was awarded a salary. The Cardinal asked him to decorate the Gesù for the Centenary of the foundation of the Jesuits on 2 October 1639. Sacchi set a temporary decoration in the church and later painted the picture to commemorate the event.