The Virgin holds the standing Christ who, with outstretched hand, blesses the Infant St John the Baptist. St John is already dressed in animal skins of the kind he will wear when preaching in the desert. Behind him stand two angels and in the landscape to the right an episode from the Fioretti (Little Flowers) of St Francis is illustrated, with St Francis kneeling before an angel playing a viol. The picture demonstrates Sarto’s increasingly mannerist elegance in its colouring, complex artificial composition and elegantly refined poses, which nevertheless convey emotion with great immediacy. Numerous related versions and copies attest to the popularity of the composition.