The Birth of the Virgin

A photograph of a drawing now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (inv. no.4262), the outlines of which are pricked for transfer. The composition was engraved (in reverse) by Cornelis Cort (The Illustrated Bartsch, LII, p.28, 20-II (45)). It has been suggested that the drawing may be a copy after a lost design by Giovanni Francesco Penni, to whom is generally attributed a drawing of this subject now in the Bibliothèque Royale in Brussels (inv. no.S.IV 40016 Fo). Another sheet, also housed in the Louvre (inv. no.4263), has been described either as a copy by Piagio Pupini after the photographed drawing, or a further copy after the same lost original by Penni. For further discussion, see Bibliographic References.