# St Margaret of Cortona Kneeling before the Christ Child and Offering Him a Book

- By: Pietro da Cortona (Cortona, 1596–1669)
- Date: c. 1640
- Medium: paper, chalk
- Classification: design
- Dimensions: height 409 mm x width 305 mm
- Credit line: Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/RP-T-1889-A-2133--a1b52e7658589db1ba9820cf1e724e2c)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://iiif.micr.io/BrMOm/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

The fact that St Margaret also came from Cortona, the artist’s birthplace, may have been the reason why Pietro da Cortona dedicated this sheet to her. Whether the drawing served as a preliminary study for an altarpiece is not known. However, it was later used for a print. The artist was dissatisfied with the original drawing of Margaret’s cape: he pasted a piece of paper over it with an improved version.