Presentation Sketch for "The Holy Family with Saints Anne, Joachim, and John the Baptist" (for Santa Maria in Via Lata, Roma)

Francesco Trevisani (1656-1746) was an Italian painter known for the elegantly composed religious paintings that make him one of the most accomplished painters of the late Roman Baroque. The Presentation Sketch from c. 1729 is a preparatory study for Trevisani's altarpiece for Santa Maria in Via Lata in Rome, depicting the Holy Family with Saints Anne, Joachim, and John the Baptist in the elegantly composed, richly colored manner that distinguishes Trevisani's best work from the more general religious painting of his contemporaries. The c. 1729 date places this in Trevisani's most productive period, when he was producing the elegantly composed religious paintings that are his most accomplished works for Roman churches.

The Presentation Sketch is important in the history of Roman Baroque painting because it demonstrates the elegantly composed, richly colored manner that Trevisani brought to religious subjects as one of the most accomplished painters of the late Roman Baroque. Trevisani's elegantly composed religious paintings—representing one of the most accomplished traditions in late Roman Baroque painting—were produced for some of the most important churches in Rome, and the c. 1729 sketch shows this tradition at its most elegantly composed.

The Presentation Sketch is Trevisani's elegantly composed Roman Baroque: a preparatory study for the Holy Family altarpiece at Santa Maria in Via Lata rendered in the richly colored manner of one of the most accomplished painters of the late Roman Baroque. The c. 1729 sketch shows the elegant composition and rich color that make Trevisani one of the most accomplished late Roman Baroque painters.