In his Guercino's account book, the Libro dei Conti, maintained by Guercino's brother, Paolo Antonio Babieri, an altarpiece by Guercino is recorded as having been painted for an oratory in Nanantola (Modena), which was built in 1630 as a votive against the plague that had befallen the town. The Snite drawing is a preparatory design for the Nanantola altarpiece, which was lost when it was sold in 1796. However, a copy of the painting remains in situ. According to the Libro de Conti, Guercino received several payments for this commission from Count Antonio Maria Sertorio beginning on 27 January 1632 and ending on 11 August 1634. The altarpiece depicts the Madonna and Child, instead of the angel in the drawing, and the placement of Saints Roch and Sebastian are reversed.

The media used in the Snite drawing is typical of Guercino's. The composition depicts Saint Roch, on the left, and Saint Sebastian, on the right, with an angel sheathing a flaming sword above. A town is faintly depicted in the background, which probably represents Nonantola. The angel, a common symbol for the eradication of pestilence, harkens back to the angel with the flaming sword guarding the tree of life in Genesis.

from Coleman, Seminar in Italian Drawings (Notre Dame, 2009)