Study for the Virgin and Child with Saints Cecilia and Agnes

This remarkably well-preserved bozzetto (oil sketch) is a study for a painting that Vanni executed for his patron Paolo Emilio Sfondrato, titular cardinal of the church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, in Rome, and a devotee of Saint Agnes. In this monochrome work, Vanni studied the play of light on the composition by highlighting the reflections on the fractured draperies with fluid strokes of white paint. The fact that this sketch is on canvas, and that other autograph copies of it survive, suggests that Vanni may have executed this particular bozzetto as a presentation piece.