The attribution of this beautiful work – The Holy Family with Infant St. John the Baptist – to Francesco Torbido, called Il Moro (Venice, 1482 - Verona, 1562), as given in Masp documents, is not convincing. The author of the painting was in all probability an artist from Emilia of a later period, close to and contemporaneous with Orazio Samacchini (Bologna, 1532-1577) and still more with Giovan Francesco Bezzi, called Il Nosadella (documented between 1558 and 1571). In any case, he was familiar with the culture of the Emilian Mannerists from Parmigianino to Pellegrino Tibaldi.

— Unknown authorship, 1998

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