A drawing in pen, ink and wash on buff paper of St Catherine, St Peter, St Anthony and St Francis, copied from the lower section of Titian’s painting of Madonna with Child and Saints (1533–35) in the Vatican Museums. Sheet inscribed in the lower left ‘Tiziano’, and on the mount in a different hand: ‘Titiano’. Stamped at the bottom centre with George V blind stamp.

This drawing is a copy after the lower section of Titian’s painting of Madonna with Child and Saints (1533–35). It shows St Catherine with one foot on a broken wheel, holding a martyr’s palm. The fronds of the palm resting on her shoulder have been drawn in fluid pen lines, differing from the more compact palm found in Titian’s painting. Next to her stands St Peter, St Anthony and St Francis. The shadows in the folds of their drapery have been softly modelled in brown wash, while deeper shadows have been strengthened with hatching. 

In Titian’s painting St Anthony is identifiable by the lilies he holds; however, they are not included in this copy. Also omitted is the figure of St Nicholas, who stands between St Catherine and St Peter, although the space is lightly outlined. The artist has reduced the gap by moving the figure of St Catherine further towards the centre of the sheet and improvising her back and left leg.

The adjustments in figure’s poses, the freer handling of details and the omission of St Nicholas suggest that the artist was not attempting to reproduce a faithful copy of Titian’s composition and style. Many artists took the opportunity to copy and study from the works in the Vatican, but the creator of this drawing has proved difficult to identify. Popham and Wilde have suggested that drawing was created in the 17th or 18th century.