The individual poses of the putti in the present picture derive from those on the two canvases flanking the Apotheosis of James I, the central composition in Rubens's decorative cycle for the Banqueting Hall, Whitehall. The present composition is an amalgam of these two flanking canvases. Another version of the composition, attributed to Watteau by James Byam Shaw, was offered in these Rooms on 2 July 1976.