Against a dark background the Virgin is seated half-length, half-turned to the right, in a deep-green robe over a red dress. Her right hand rests on the right leg of the Christ Child, who is seated on her left knee. In Christ’s left hand a reed cross, in the Virgin’s is a ribbon.

Before it was restored in 1862 there was a false figure of Saint Joseph in the background, and the painting was described as a ‘Holy Family’. Traditionally attributed to Raphael, the painting is now thought to belong to the circle of Raphael’s close Florentine colleague, Ridolfo Ghirlandaio. It is perhaps by Ridolfo’s pupil Mariano Graziadei, as it is very close in style to his ‘Holy Family’ altarpiece in Ridolfo’s Cappella de’ Priori in Palazzo Vecchio.