Giordano painted this subject on numerous occasions. The present lot is related to a painting in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence (cf. O. Ferrari and G. Scavizzi, Luca Giordano, 1966, II, p. 329), although it hasbeen extended on the right and left sides. A further comparison may be made with the painting in the Villanova sale, Naples, March 11-20, 1929, lot 622, in which the ferry and ferryman appear on the right and the Holy Family on the left