It is signed and dated "RAPHAEL VRBINAS S[anti] PINGEBAT MDXVIII" on the hem of the Madonna's garment.

[1] According to the 17th century writer André Félibién two further Louvre works Abundance and Ceres, both in monochrome, formed a cover to the Small Holy Family.

[2][3] The work and its cover may have been commissioned from Raphael around 1519 by Pope Leo X as thanks for the services of Adrien Gouffier de Boissy, papal legate to France.

de Boissy also owned John the Baptist as a Young Man in the Desert (Louvre), another work by Raphael and assistants, as well as a preparatory drawing for the Small Holy Family now in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle.

Elizabeth's face and the cradle in the shape of an inverted tree trunk are reminiscent of other works by Raphael from that era such as Holy Family under an Oak Tree (Prado) and La Perla (Prado), both with assistance from Giulio Romano.