The drawing corresponds with a part of Procaccini’s first major fresco, the Last Judgement in San Prospero, Reggio Emilia. It is unusually close in detail to the fresco, including the background elements; this would normally indicate a copy, but there can be little doubt about Procaccini’s authorship. Perhaps the patrons were not confident about the young artist’s ability to see through a project of this scale, and required him to produce unusually explicit preparatory drawings.