Lot Essay
The present painting follows a composition which has always been presumed to be by Sir Anthony Van Dyck, first mentioned in the inventory of 1722 of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, but destroyed during World War II (see: E. Larsen, The Paintings of Anthony van Dyck, Freren, 1988, p. 425, no. A43).