Study of the head and shoulders of a boy and of hands holding a dish

This drawing may represent the youthful Saint John the Baptist. Sir Timothy Clifford has suggested a comparison with half-length figure studies by Giovanni Battista Piazzetta's pupil Domenico Maggiotto (1713-1794), such as his Young boy with a bowl (sold Stockholm, Auktionsverk, 6 December 2011, lot 2135) or his drawing of a Young boy (see C.L. Ragghianti, Disegni dell'Accademia Carrara di Bergamo, exhib. cat., Bergamo, 1963, no. 297, fig. CXXII).