The Madonna and Child, painted by Saint Luke, in a landscape

This panel would appear to be Garofalo's only treatment of Saint Luke Painting the Virgin. It was a subject that was particularly resonant during the Renaissance, with versions of the composition often hanging in painters' guilds, for whom Saint Luke was the patron; artists sometimes depicted themselves in the guise of Luke. As the status of artists - and the power of their guilds - was significantly elevated during the 16th and 17th centuries, the composition acquired greater significance, becoming a reflection on the art of painting and the role of the artist.

Garofalo's charming staging of the subject is characteristic of his earlier work, circa 1510. It was small devotional panels such as this that fostered his strong reputation amongst British collectors in the 19th century. This picture was owned by Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough, the Tory politician and Governor-General of India in 1841-44, whose second wife Jane Digby was one of the more flamboyant women of her age, divorcing Ellenborough after having an affair with Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg and then living in Damascus.