The Madonna and Child, after Raphael

Sassoferrato must have been familiar with Raphael's Conestabile Madonna (The Hermitage, Saint Petersburg), then in the Conestabile della Staffa collection, when working in Perugia. The intimacy of Raphael's depiction of the Child reading the book with his Mother looking over his shoulder is successfully captured by Sassoferrato in this picture. On the influence of Raphael on Sassoferrato in Perugia, see F. Mac de Lepinay, 'Archaisme et purisme au XVIIe sicle: les tableaux de Sassoferrato S. Pietro de Prouse', Revue de l'Art, 31, 1976, pp. 38-56.

Professor Federico Zeri confirmed the attribution in a letter to the owner (9 November 1978).