The Adoration of the Child

The painting was purchased by the 7th Duke of Berwick and 14th Duke of Alba, Don Carlos Miguel Fitz-James Stuart, in Florence in September 1817. As Ángel M. Barcia points out, it belonged to the Salviati Gallery.

The detailed description helps to understand to what extent this delicate table relates to the famous altarpiece of Villa Albani painted in 1491 for Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere. Sánchez Cantón considers our work to be a version of that one, owned by Prince Torlonia. The most notable differences are found in the background (architectural in the painting of Rome) and in the presence of San Juanito, which is missing in that one. The round also shows an angel instead of two. It should be noted the resemblance between the Child and the one that appears in another round of these collections, a copy of a lost original by Raphael (P.134).