The Virgin presenting the rosary to Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine of Siena presenting a heart to the Christ Child

Fedele Fischetti was a Neapolitan artist active mainly as a fresco decorator, but he was also the author of several altarpieces. This highly finished study was most likely a preparatory modello for an altarpiece. A similar composition with the Virgin of the Rosary, Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine is in the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York (inv. 1938-88-6453; see The Two Sicilies, exhib. cat., New York, Finch College Museum of Art, 1970, no. 64, ill.). The two drawings could have been alternative ideas for the same commission.