Attributed to Jean Tassel (Langres 1608-1667)

Benedict Nicolson was deputy surveyor of the King's Pictures, under Kenneth Clark, before becoming editor of the Burlington Magazine, which he transformed into the most respected art journal in the English language, probably in the world. His celebrated book on Caravaggism in Europe (published posthumously in 1979), underlines his enduring fascination with the Caravaggiesque tradition, of which the present painting is an example.