This drawing has been attributed to Carbone by Mary Newcome Schleier on the basis of a photograph. The artist, best known as a portraitist, is recorded as having completed the fresco The Presentation of the Virgin in Santa Maria dello Zerbino which was left unfinished by Valerio Castello, at his death in 1659. The drawing must date from this period, as the broad-faced types and the composition reflect the influence of late Castello pictures such as The Adoration of the Shepherds, C. Manzitti, Valerio Castello, Genoa, 1972, no. 94, illustrated. The drawing is comparable in its technique with the brush studies of Castiglione (to whom it was traditionally attributed), but the figures are closer to those of artists of the following generation such as Castello and Biscaino