Information provided by Professor Riccardo Lattuada:
The thick weave canvas and gesso preparation are clearly of Neapolitan production and can be dated to the first half of the 17th century. The close focus with which the three figures are captured, and the fact that recent restoration has revealed the presence of an old lining but also the absence of selvages, suggest that the painting may be a fragment taken from a larger composition. This hypothesis is reinforced by comparisons possible with other works of the Neapolitan environment of the mid-seventeenth century. Indeed, it seems to me that the most credible terms of comparison can be established with a certain number of works by Andrea Vaccaro (Naples, 1604-1670). Of this master, who was one of the leading exponents of Neapolitan painting throughout the long course of his activity, it seems possible to compare with the painting under discussion a magnificent pendant with 'Lot and His Daughters' and 'Moses Striking the Rock' in a private collection, tentatively dated by the author to the first half of the fourth decade of the seventeenth century.
(cf. R. Lattuada, I percorsi di Andrea Vaccaro, in M. Izzo, Nicola Vaccaro (1640-1709). Un artista a Napoli tra Barocco e Arcadia, Todi, Tau editrice, 2009, pp. 61-64)
