Attributed to Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (Amsterdam 1621-1674)

As suggested by Martin Royalton-Kisch, the drawing shares many characteristics, such as the extensive wash and the geometric forms of the faces, with a drawing at the British Museum of Saint Paul preaching at Athens, which is now widely accepted as a work by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (inv. T,14.7; see Drawings by Rembrandt and his Pupils. Telling the Difference, exhib. cat., Los Angeles, The J Paul Getty Museum, 2009-2010, no. 14.2, entry by H. Bevers). He and Peter Schatborn, to whom we are grateful for assistance, share the opinion that this could be an early work by Van den Eeckhout from the time he was a pupil of Rembrandt (circa 1635-1640).