1593 - Antwerp - 1678
Oil on Canvas, 47 x 60 (119 x 152.5 cm)
Until 1989, the painting was inserted into the ceiling of an eighteenth century house in Wigmore Street, London W1 (now demolished) and may well have been there since the house was built.
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Prof. R-A d'Hulst has kindly confirmed the attribution (1). This is clearly an early work and the residual mannerist influence of Jordaens's teacher Adam van Noort (who had also been the teacher of Rubens) has also been pointed out (2). In the work of neither artist is such influence common even in their earliest works, and they seem to have made themselves independent very rapidly.
There are multiple pentimenti and alterations, some easily visible on the photograph. I have been unable to find any other version of the subject, let alone the composition. According Rooses a painting of this subject was sold at auction in Amsterdam on 16th May 1696 (3) but no dimensions are given.
see also note by Michael Jaffé available on request. (4)
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