Follower of Bartolomeo Manfredi

The subject, first made popular by Caravaggio, was treated by a number of painters working in Rome during the first quarter of the 17th Century, Simon Vouet being one of them. This painting derives from an original by Bartolomeo Manfredi, recorded by Nicolson as being with Florentine galleries in 1970 (B. Nicolson, Caravaggism in Europe, Turin 1990, vol. I, p. 145, reproduced vol. II, fig. 290). He lists another autograph version, of larger dimensions (133 by 195 cm.) in the Galleria d'Arte Antica, Rome. The present painting is probably contemporary with Manfredi's original but it does not appear to be identifiable with any of the three further versions listed by Nicolson (two of which he classifies as copies).