A drawing of a bust of a woman, turned three-quarters to the right, in delicate black and red chalks.

The attribution to Sofonisba Anguissola or one of her sisters was due to P. Pouncey (recorded in Popham & Wilde 1949, no. 63), though it is not particularly close in style or characterisation to the works of the Anguissola sisters. Popham noted other attributions on the old mount, to Federico Barocci (by A. Venturi) and to Federico Zuccaro (by an unidentified German hand). Though Popham dismissed these attributions, that to F. Zuccaro is worth reconsidering - the combination of black and red chalks was characteristic of him, and though his drawings are usually more grainy and robust than seen here, it could be by a member of his immediate circle.