The oil sketch was one of the favorite means of expression of Italian painters in the second half of the 16th century and the early 17th century. These artists were all obsessed with drawing and the quest for formal perfection. The painted sketch offered them the same spontaneity as line drawing, as well as opportunity to visualize the final chromatic balances. The local schools marked by the prevalence of drawing (Florence) and those more drawn to color (Venice, Milan, even the intermediate case of Siena) were devoted in equal measure to the painted sketch.

The sketches of Baglione and Borgianni are linked to two of the most important Roman commissions of the early 17th century.
That of Baglione was in preparation for one of the most talked-about works in Italian painting, the enormous Resurrection of Christ of 1603 for the Church of the Gesu. The work is particularly well-known as a result of the lawsuit brought by Baglione against a group of artists which included Caravaggio and Orazio Gentileschi. In addition to the confrontation’s personal dimension (Caravaggio had hoped to be awarded this commission), one detects an aesthetic conflict in the arguments on both sides. Baglione composes using the juxtaposition of elements borrowed from various sources, including Caravaggio (the man reclining with the weight on his elbow is a direct “citation” of Caravaggio’s Martyrdom of Saint Matthew of the French congregation San Luigi dei Francesi).