There is some controversy about the authorship of this small panel painting, which some historians attribute to Florentine painter Andrea del Sarto and others consider closer to the work of 16th-century Milanese masters influenced by Leonardo Da Vinci. Made with the care and detail of a miniature, this intimate piece intended for private worship presents Saint John the Baptist in his traditional childhood setting: the desert. As Saint Luke described it (Luke I, 80), And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel. This explains that his only clothing is an animal hide. He looks at the observer with a charming smile, as if sharing his love of the lamb that symbolizes Jesus Christ.

El niño en el Museo del Prado, Madrid, Ministerio de Cultura, Dirección General de Bellas Artes, 1983, p.174