Professor Werner Sumowski, in a letter to us of 11 August 1991, describes the present picture as 'qualitativ hervorragend' and says that he will illustrate it in colour in the forthcoming sixth volume of his Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, as no.2178.

The composition is reminiscent of the Portrait of Susanna van Collen and her daughter Anna in the Wallace Collection, London, until recently regarded as the work of Rembrandt; it is now thought to have been executed by 'an unknown artist under Rembrandt's influence, and probably in his workshop' and dated 1632/3 (J. Bruyn et al., A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings, II, Dordrecht, Boston and Lancaster, 1986, pp.721-7, no.C66, illustrated)