Provenance
Private collection, Cagliari.
With certificate of free movement.
The painting is accompanied by a card by Danielle Maufort.
Pieter Thijs was originally from Antwerp and active during the golden age of Dutch painting; he did his apprenticeship in the workshop of Anton Van Dyck and led a brilliant career that allowed him to work for excellent commissions, such as Archduke Leopold William of Austria, governor of the Spanish Netherlands and the Orange-Nassau house in The Hague. He specialised in classical and religious scenes, as well as portraiture. He was registered in the Guild of Saint Luca of the city of Antwerp from 1644, where he held prestigious positions as treasurer, counsellor and charity coordinator. Thijs' pictorial activity has been the subject of systematic studies by Danielle Maufort, who has dedicated to him, among other things, a monographic text in 2005. A version with minimal variations of this painting was auctioned by Sotheby's Paris, 25 June 2017, lot no. 45 (sold, with auction fees, for €90,000). Reference bibliography: Danielle Maufort, "Le peintre anversois Peter Thijs, l'un des derniers élèves d'Antoine Van Dyck", PhD thesis, University of Leuven 2004.