The drawing is characteristic of late pen and ink studies by Filippino and may have been made as a preparatory study for the lunette of his altarpiece now in the Palazzo Bianco, Genoa, of 1503. The short animated pen strokes, lively depiction of gesture, and abstracting division of the angels' faces are all hallmarks of Filippino's technique. In late pen and ink studies, he achieves a spirited expressive quality that arises largely out of the freedom and vivacity of his use of line.

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