Overview
- The painting surfaced during an inventory of a Paris townhouse by auctioneer Jean‑Pierre Osenat after years of being dismissed as a workshop piece.
- It sold on Nov. 30 for €2.3 million hammer (about $2.7 million), or €2.94 million with fees, outstripping the €1–2 million estimate.
- German art historian Nils Büttner and the Antwerp-based Rubenianum confirmed the attribution following X‑ray imaging and microscopic study of the paint layers.
- Examinations noted blue and green pigments in the flesh tones typical of Rubens, and the composition is known historically from a contemporary engraving.
- Provenance traces to 19th‑century painter William‑Adolphe Bouguereau; the new owner is an unnamed private collector.