This is one of a small handful of extant drawings by Stefano, who was among the leading northern Italian artists of the early fifteenth century. The son of a French painter, Stefano worked throughout northern Italy, but only one signed picture by him survives, The Adoration of the Magi from about 1435 (Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan). The style of the drawing, with its long flowing lines and elegant elongated figures, is typical of the period. The Metropolitan Museum sheet was originally part of a modelbook or sketchbook. Further related pages are in the Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, and the Kupferstichkabinett, Dresden.

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