Follower of Michelangelo Buonarroti, 16th Century

Likely executed by a Northern artist in Italy, this painting derives from a composition by Michelangelo, known today through a drawn copy in the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge (inv. no. 1955.75), which was subsequently engraved in reverse by Nicolas Beatrizet in 1542 and Giulio Bonasone in 1555. Several other painted versions of this composition are known, all with differences in the landscape, including: formerly J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (sold Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 8 May 2007, lot 61, as Attributed to Jan Swart van Groningen); Hampton Court, London; and Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.