Maria van Oosterwyck was the daughter of a well-to-do clergyman, whose first studio was said to be in her grandfather'’s vicarage in Delft. The still life artist Wilem van Aelst courted her, but she never married. Her paintings were eagerly collected, and her patrons included Louis XIV of France, Emperor Leopold I, and Stadholder-King William III, among others. The influence of Jan Davidsz. de Heem is evident in her work, and it seems likely that he taught her. Maria van Oosterwyck often added vanitas connotations and inscriptions to her paintings, and the present inscription, visible on across the lower edge of the panel, reads: 'I say your name is virtue'. We are grateful to Fred Meijer of the RKD for confirming the attribution on the basis of photographs.