Circle of Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577-1640 Antwerp)

This composition closely relates to the panel depicting the same subject at Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, which Peter C. Sutton considers another version painted by Rubens of the canvas in the Museo del Prado, Madrid. Compared to the Prado version, the present lot and the Waddesdon version extend the composition with additional figures, as well as transform the venus lactans seated on a dolphin in the upper right into a standing female statue based on a bronze by Francesco di Sant’Agata.