The Russell-Cotes painting represents the Madonna and Child at the centre flanked by St Margaret of Antioch, identifiable by the cross she holds on the left, and St Lawrence with his attributes, the grid iron on which he was burnt to death and the martyr's palm. The standing figures are seen as if through a window formed by the frame, half-length behind a parapet on which the words ‘AVE MARIA’ are written in fictive stone intarsia.

The painting has been attributed to Francesco Bonsignori (1455/60-1519?) who was active in his native Verona, where he remained until about 1490 when he was called to Mantua to work for the Gonzaga court. In the Russell-Cotes painting the stylised depiction of the subjects' faces, particularly the lips, nose and eyebrows of the Virgin and Saint Laurence, follow a strongly geometric formula that compares well with Bonsigniori’s work (for example, NG, London, 3091). The painting also shows an awareness of contemporary central Italian painting trends.