At the top, behind the group of the seated Virgin with the Child, is the figure of God the Father. Below are depicted (from left to right) Saint Sebastian, Saint Roch, Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Anthony of Padua. The identity of the fifth saint, who is nearest to the main group, is uncertain: perhaps it is Saint Joseph, but his facial features are similar to those which are traditionally characteristic of Saint Peter.

This small painting is doubtlessly a sketch for a large altarpiece which has not been found so far, or which may never have been realised. In view of the presence of the figure of Saint Francis of Assisi, who is meditating beside a skull, and of Saint Anthony of Padua, with a lily as his attribute, it was probably commissioned by members of the Franciscan order. And it is also certain that it was commissioned as a votive picture to give thanks for salvation from the plague: Saint Sebastian and Saint Roch are in fact the main patrons safeguarding the population against the plague also in Italian religious iconography.

The style of the painting is characteristic of Venice and for the first half of the 18th century and shows compositional and typological motifs which are related to the late Baroque painting in the influential Venetian area. Despite its undoubted qualities, a final attribution of this picture is for the present still open.