Few drawings by the prolific Roman artist Giovanni Paolo Panini that can be connected to paintings have survived. This sheet, however, is such a rare example; it relates to a picture datable circa 1758, previously at Galleria Gasparrini (F. Arisi, Gian Paolo Panini e i fasti della Roma del '700, Rome, 1986, no. 496, ill.). Swiftly drawn in pen and brown ink and finished with grey wash, the sheet sets out the composition for the painting which closely follows it (apart from some minor differences, most notably in the sarcophagus and plants at left). The artist free treatment of his subjects can also be seen in two drawings showing capriccio in the Louvre (inv. 6714 and 6721).

The attribution to Panini has been confirmed by Alessandro Agresti in a letter from 2015.