Apparently traced from a pen-and wash drawing by Cambiaso or a member of his studio in the Louvre, or from another, superior version of this drawing (inv. no. 9228). An identical composition occurs in a studio drawing, likewise in pen and brown ink alone, in the Accademia, Venice (in. no. 409). A variant composition is found in a drawing in the British Museum, London, showing the Virgin seated in profile to the right, suckling the Christ Child, while St. Anne, with her arms similarly crossed, faces the spectator; a stepped wall, with the base of a column, appears in the background (inv. no. 1946-7-13-291). The Prado also possesses a weaker, later variant of the present drawing.

Turner, Nicholas, From Michelangelo to Annibale Carracc: a century of Italian drawings from the Prado, Virginia, Art Services International, 2008, p.246