The original, signed and dated 1672, on panel, 48.7 x 37.9 cm, is in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Buckingham Palace. It was acquired by William Buchanan in Paris in 1817 and taken to London. In the same year King George IV purchased the picture for 1.000 guineas. King George IV was an active patron of contemporary artists like Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds and George Stubbs and a discerning collector of Old Masters. By 1814 his collection of 17th century Dutch paintings totalled about 200 works (see C. White, op.cit, p. liv-lxxi).

The signature and the date of the present lot have been tested under microscope and have been proved to be authentic. This would mean that the present lot was executed five years before the executing of the original. This fact was not commented on by C. White, who mentioned the date of the copy in his catalogue of the Queen's pictures (see C. White, op.cit., p. 40).

The relief of putti pulling a goat decorating the front of the niche is copied after a terracotta relief by the French 17th century sculptor François Duquesnoy, which is said to be lost (see M. Fransolet, Francois Du Quesnoy - Sculpteur d'Urbain VIII 1597-1643, 1941, pp. 74/75)

See colour illustration