A patrician family kneeling on a seashore experiencing a vision of the Madonna and Child and Saint Dominic, Saint John the Baptist and another saint, a ship seen beyond

The maritime theme is unusual in Creti's work, not least because of Bologna's geographical position. The drawing may, however, be related to a painting of Saint Francis Xavier commending seafarers to the Madonna dated circa 1705-08, commissioned by the Accademia degli Argonauti del Collegio dei Nobili and now in the Communal Collection, Bologna (R. Roli, Donato Creti, Milan, 1967, no. 13, pl. 10).