Giovanni Battista Salvi, called Sassoferrato

Giovanni Battista Salvi, more commonly known as 'Sassoferrato', after the town in which he was born, learned the rudiments of painting from his father Tarquino before embarking on a trip to Rome. There he studied the works of his contemporaries, including Reni, Domenichino, and the Carracci. His greatest influence, however, was Raphael and he is known to have directly copied the latter's compositions.  

Despite being an accomplished portraitist, Sassoferrato specialized in easel paintings of a devotional nature, usually representing the Madonna alone or with the Christ Child, of which the present composition is an outstanding example. He was primarily employed by his patrons to provide images for personal spiritual contemplation, and the Counter Reformation's increased emphasis on veneration of the Virgin and the Marian cult meant Sassoferrato's intense and moving depictions of the Madonna were much in demand. The Madonna in the midst of quiet prayer was one of his most celebrated subjects and he returned to it many times throughout his career. The large number of autograph and studio replicas of Sassoferrato's compositions attest to the popularity they enjoyed within the artist's own lifetime, and the present composition is known in at least six other versions, including one in Trieste in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore.