The Virgin and Saint Joseph are shown at half-length behind a parapet. Resting in the Virgin’s left arm, the Christ Child is shown full-length and nude, with his feet just touching the parapet. Behind them is a landscape background. In its present form the inscription at the lower right corner of the painting is clearly false - under microscopic examination it can be seen to cover damage. However, the false inscription also covers fragments of an earlier inscription which could plausibly be reconstructed as ‘Giacomo Francia / 1557’. Giacomo was Francesco Francia’s son, who together with his brother Giulio, assumed responsibility for the family business on their father’s death in 1517. Giacomo died in 1557, but it is possible that he is responsible for this work; it certainly adheres to Francesco’s pictorial language. Inscribed, lower right corner: ‘Gorgiano Francia / 1557; on the back, in black paint in a very early hand: ‘men…io da Pesaro’ and ‘LV’