In this highly symbolic painting Mary has her hands clasp in reverence to the Christ Child which is believed to be a symbol of Jesus' future sacrifice.

St. John the Baptist, who stands to a Mary’s side and stares reverently at Christ, is portrayed dressed in brown burlap, a reference to his future ministry in the desert. While Jesus' nakedness reminds us of his humanity.

Giulio Romano completed this painting after he set up his own workshop in Rome shortly after the death of his teacher Raphael (1483-1520).

Although Giulio initially faithfully followed the style of his famous master, he made his figures even more sculptural and gracefully elongated. It draws on the pyramidical compositions of Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael

The building in the background is based on the Cortile del Belvedere in the Vatican gardens in Rome designed by the great architect Donato Bramante (1444-1514).

The work was probably produced as a copy of the original painted on boar and takes its name from the domestic cat in the foreground, which allows it to be identified with a work known as "il quadro della “

The painting was likely for Federico Gonzaga while the artist was still in Rome 1524-1525 and thus formed part of the Gonzaga collection for a time. In the late 16th century it is recorded in the collection of Barbara Sanseverino, a noblewoman from Parma and lover and confidant of Vincenzo I Gonzaga. The Farnese family confiscated artworks from several local nobles and thus the work entered the Farnese collection from Sanseverino's collection in 1612.

The painting was previously attributed to Raffaelino dal Colle (see Federico Zeri's 1976 catalogue of Italian Paintings in the Walters Art Gallery, no. 233, pp. 355-357) but reattributed to Giulio Romano by Sylia Ferino-Pagden in the catalogue of the Giulio Romano exhibtion in Mantua in 1989