Likely executed by Alessandro Maganza (1556–c.1630) as a compositional study for an altarpiece with an arched top, this drawing shows the Coronation of the Virgin. Watching from below are the figures of Mary Magdalene, St John the Evangelist, a bearded saint and a donor – who is shown glancing towards the viewer.

Maganza trained under his father Giovanni Battista Maganza (1513–86) and studied in workshop of Giovanni Antonio Fasolo (1530–72), who was a follower of Veronese. Following Fasolo’s death, Maganza spent four years in Venice where he was strongly influenced by the works of Jacopo Tintoretto, Palma Giovanne and Veronese. On his return to Vicenza in 1576, Maganza established a large family workshop. He predominantly produced religious paintings, such as his Passion cycle for the Cappella del Sacramento in Vicenza Cathedral.

Maganza’s assimilation of the style of Venetian artists has led to his drawings being misattributed. However, the slender treatment of hands and the fluid pen lines over a rapid black chalk sketch are distinctive of Maganza’s draughtsmanship. Comparison with other sheets by Maganza further strengthens this attribution: the Morgan Library and Museum, New York holds a drawing by Maganza depicting an adoration of the Virgin which bears clear stylistic similarities, particularly comparable is the angle of the head of the saint to the left of the sheet to the head of John the Evangelist on the present sheet, as is the rendering of clouds in brown wash and ink (1993.155). The depiction of heads of the winged cherubs, seen at the top of the present sheet, can also be found in a Maganza drawing, sold at auction by Sotheby’s New York, May 20th 1994.