Maria mit Kind und den Heiligen Anne Johannes der Täufer ("The Burlington House Cartoon")

The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist ('The Burlington House Cartoon')

The Virgin Mary sits on the lap of her mother, Saint Anne. The Christ child blesses his cousin Saint John the Baptist (the child to the right). The interaction between the two children is also the subject of Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks.

This large drawing is a cartoon, that is, a life-size preparatory study for a painting. In order to transfer a design onto a panel, the outlines of cartoons were usually pricked or incised. This is not the case here, as this complex and atmospheric drawing remains intact. It must have been preserved in its own right as a finished drawing, although some areas have deliberately been left inconclusive or in rough outline.

The National Gallery's drawing is related to a commission for a painting given to Leonardo by King Louis XII of France, whose second wife's name was Anne.