Following World War I, de Chirico was demobilized from the army in the winter of 1918-1919 and left Ferrara for Rome, where he stayed with his mother. While standing before a painting by Titian in the Villa Borghese, de Chirico had what he later refered to as a "revelation", which led him to turn away from the pioneering modernism of his metaphysical pictures to a renewed interest in the traditions of Italian painting. In the early 1920's de Chirico moved quickly between a variety of styles, seeking to emulate a diverse group of predecessors, ranging from rennaissance masters to artists of the 19th century. He made copies after Michelangelo's Holy Family and Lorenzo Lotto's Portrait of a Man in Black. The present work shows the impact of these studies. While the artist continues to render forms in the flat, linear manner he employed in his metaphysical pictures, there is a conscious striving to evoke earlier traditions in his choice of subject and classical pose.

The Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico has confirmed the authenticity of this painting.