Confidently drawn, this rapid sketch is a preparatory study for a painting with Saint Sebastian, as first argued by Vitzthum, who associated the sheet to Ribera's canvas executed ca. 1628-30 for the Augustinian nuns of Salamanca. However, Finaldi has more recently noted that the closest composition to this drawing is a Saint Sebastian in a private collection, siged and dated by Ribera in 1640.