This drawing is a preparatory study for the head of Saint Lucy in Barocci's altarpiece Madonna with Saints Lucy and Anthony Abbot, formerly in the Danzetta Chapel in Sant'Agostino, Perugua, and now in the Louvre. The painting may have been executed around 1590 and is attributed to Barocci's nephew and gifted pupil Francesco Baldelli, an artist about whom very little is known. Although the altarpiece was not painted by Barocci, he doubtless conceived the composition and made numerous preparatory drawings for the finished work. As with many artists overburdened with multiple commissions, Barocci turned to his workshop to assist him. Not one to work from one or two studies, Barocci would have supplied his assistants with many compositional, figurative, and drapery studies in order that his visuals sic ideas be accurately replicated in paint.

from Coleman, Seminar in Italian Baroque Drawings (Notre Dame, 2006)