This composition exists in six versions, of which only those in the Louvre and the Accademia, Venice were considered by Popham to be by Parmigianino, op. cit., 1971, nos. 477 and 599, pl. 393. The four remaining versions are in the Accademia, the Ambrosiana, Milan, the Louvre and at Christ Church, Oxford, Byam Shaw, op. cit., no. 1094, fig. 85. Byam Shaw, pointing out the refined qualities of the handling of the red chalk drawing at Christ Church, considered it to be by the Parmese artist. The composition was engraved by Francesco Rosapina (1762-1841) after further version in Giovanni Zambeccari's collection.
Popham did not think Parmigianino was the inventor of the composition but rather thought that the figure stemmed from a well-known prototype. Indeed the figure is found in a number of works dating from this period: in a drawing dated circa 1540 in the Heemskerk's sketchbook in Berlin (C. Hülsen and H. Egger, Die römischen Skizzenbücher von Marten van Heemskerk, Berlin, 1916, II, fol. 19r, pl. 22), and in the background of Vasari's Portrait of a Prince dated 1549 formerly with Knoedler, Byam Shaw, op. cit., fig. 86.
Byam Shaw argued that, because the two drawings considered by Popham as originals differed from the Oxford version, and because he thought the latter was also by Parmigianino, the inventor of the composition would indeed be Parmigianino.
Richard Krautheimer noted that the draughtsmanship shared characteristics of both Giulio Romano and Parmigianino but that the accoutrements all'antica rather indicated Giulio.