Follower of Nicolas Poussin

H.C.W. Dally Esq., Amersham, by whom acquired in the 1960s;
His deceased sale, London, Sotheby's, 23 April 1998, lot 134, where acquired by the present owner.

C. Wright, Poussin: Paintings, London 1984, pp. 237-38, cat. no. A1, reproduced fig. 210 (as 'a disputed early picture').

When published by Christopher Wright (see Literature) the likeness between this painting and other youthful works by Poussin was noted, in particular its similarity with the painting of Venus and Adonis in the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth; also of disputed authorship. The two principal figures in the present composition - the nymph seated in profile and the drinking satyr - appear again in two paintings by Poussin; one in the Museo del Prado, Madrid, the other in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, both of which are believed to date from circa 1630 (see J. Thuillier, Nicolas Poussin, Paris 1994, p. 247, cat. nos. 45, 45a-b).