The above lot is an early work by Fontana which shows the influence of Giorgio Vasari in the composition and figural types. Fontana executed several version of this composition during the 1570s. The painting most comparable to the above lot is in the Museo dell'Ordine dei Frati Cappuccini, Bologna and is dateable by Maria Teresa Cantaro to circa 1570-75 (cf. M.T. Cantaro, Lavinia Fontana bolognese, 1989, p. 58, no. 4a.2, illustrated)