Study for the Cupola of the Cappella degli Angeli in the Church of the Gesù in Rome with the Trinity Surrounded by Angels

Federico Zuccaro executed this drawing as a preliminary design for his composition for the cupola of the Cappella degli Angeli (Chapel of the Angels) in the Church of the Gesù in Rome, painted between 1592 and 1595. The treatment of the subject matter, "The Assumption of the Virgin and The Trinity", underwent definitive modifications in the final version. Of particular interest is the way the artist challenges the confinement of the subject within the surrounding architecture - which he has begun to sketch in the bottom right corner of the sheet - by overlapping it with clouds. In the large-scale painting, Zuccaro reverts to a more traditional approach and contains the design within its sculpted golden frame.