Attributed to Francesco Albani Bologna 1578-1660

Francesco Albani painted several versions of a composition featuring the Madonna reading while the infant Christ sleeps. The present version is closest to a significantly larger painting on copper, of oval format but oriented horizontally. The central figures in that work are framed by two angels on the left and Saint Joseph on the right (Palazzo Pitti, Florence). It is also similar to a version sold at Christie's (New York, 19 April 2007, lot 212, for $33,600), on canvas rather than copper, with Saint Joseph replaced by a landscape.