The Birth of the Virgin

Nicholas Turner has confirmed the attribution to Mola, and notes that the sheet is connected to a composition planned by the artist towards the end of his career but never executed. A more complete compositional study was sold at Sotheby's London, 2 July 1984, lot 91, while a study for a group of midwives around a brazier, possibly destined for the foreground, was sold at Sotheby's London, 4 July 1988, lot 115.