Sebastien Bourdon (Montpellier 1616-1671 Paris)

Jacques Thuillier (in Sébastien Bourdon 1616-1671, exhibition catalogue, Montpellier, 2000-2001) records at least three other versions of this subject: a lost painting on panel last seen in Germany in the middle of the 19th century (Thuillier, p. 455), and two compositional drawings, one in the Muse Atger, Montpellier (Thuillier, no. 256.1), the other in a private collection, Paris (Thuillier, no. 256.2). The present painting appears to date from the later part of Bourdon's career, circa 1660.