The present drawing is a preparatory study for the figure of Saint Hilary in one of the frescoes that decorate the sottarco, or entrance arch, of the Zangrondi Chapel in the church of San Giovanni Evangelista in Parma. Although the painted decoration of the chapel, which was not executed before 1522, is now generally given to Anselmi, some critics have attributed this drawing to Parmigianino. The case for Anselmi's authorship of both the drawing and the fresco has been most fully argued by David Ekserdjian (op. cit., pp. 449-50)