Attributed to François Bunel II (Blois 1552-1599)

After the death of Henri III, France underwent a turbulent period, with a resurgence of the Wars of Religion and the League of Catholics who controlled Paris, opposing the rule of the Protestant King Henri IV. Two major protests took place in 1590 and 1593, the year Henri converted to Catholicism, and it is possible that this composition represents one of these.

This composition is known from several versions and variations, of which one, tentatively attributed to Blois born painter François Bunel II, who worked for Henri IV in the 1590s, is in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris. Others are in the Museums of Bourges, Rouen and Valenciennes and a further example, smaller and on copper, was sold at Christie's, Paris, 26 June 2003, lot 19. Engraved by Petrus Kaerius (1571-c. 1646), in the same sense as the present picture, no definite prototype for the composition and its variants has been hitherto identified.