Attributed to Adriaen Hanneman, Gaspar Peeter Verbruggen the Younger

Dr. Paul Baecher;
With Central Picture Galleries, New York;
By whom sold to Marc and Lilian Rojtman;
Her deceased sale ("Property from the Estate of Lillian Rojtman Berkman Including Property from the Rojtman Foundation"), New York, Sotheby's, 28 January 2005, lot 583;
There purchased by the present owner.

O. Millar, H. Vey, S. Barnes et al., Van Dyck, A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, New Haven and London 2004, p. 552, under cat no IV.158 (as a related composition to the Marlborough picture, see note)

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work has not been recently restored. It can be seen that the quality and condition in many areas is quite good, but a fresh approach to the restoration would be beneficial. There has been some fairly broad restoration here and there in the darker colors, and there is a fairly broad restoration in the shoulder of the female figure in the white fabric. As is so often the case, there may be some strengthening to the features in the face. It is fair to say that there are probably other restorations throughout the picture that are not unusual for a work of this period. If the work is cleaned and retouched and the lining changed or adjusted, the way the picture reads would certainly improve noticeably. Another approach would be to lightly varnish the work and to improve the existing retouches that have become discolored.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The present painting is closely related to an autograph work by Van Dyck in the collection of the Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, as well as to an engraving by Johannes Thomas (1695) titled as Achilles inter Virgines habito mulieri delitescens...(see Literature).

Based on an examination of photographs, Fred Meijer of the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague, confirmed prior to the painting's sale in 2005 (see Provenance), that the flowers are by Gaspar Pieter Verbruggen, the Younger. Stylistically, they belong to his later work, after 1700, and were most likely a later addition to the present painting. We are grateful to Mr. Meijer for his attribution.