The painting offered in the lot, of great visual impact, is probably attributable to a Flemish or French painter active in Italy in the first half of the seventeenth century. The presence of the cartouche with the monogram DB (almost a trompe-l'oeil) is typical of Flemish culture, while the architectural backdrop of the colonnade and the geometry of the floor are inspired by Italian spatiality. The figures, who move in measured and eloquent gestures as if on a proscenium, are enriched by the precious details of the fabrics and jewels, investigated with the Flemish analytical taste. The presence of the sleeping dog at the bottom right adds a touch of naturalism to the sacred scene.
The most recent provenance of the painting  is from the Pignatelli house in Naples, but the original commissioner is not documented.
The monogram DB could perhaps refer to David Bailly (Leiden 1584-1657), who stayed in Italy around the second decade of the seventeenth century.
An alternative attribution has been suggested to Dominique Barrière (Marseille ca. 1622-Rome 1678), a famous engraver who participated in important commissions in seventeenth-century Rome, but whose activity as a painter, much less well-known, is also documented.