Attributed to Philippe de Champaigne

Philippe de Champaigne did not work alone in his Paris studio. In 1643 he sent to Brussels for his nephew Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne, then about 12 years old, to train as his pupil and assistant, and the boy was brought up in the house like a son. Nicolas de Plattemontagne, another young painter trained by Philippe, became Jean-Baptiste's lifelong friend, and for a long time some of Plattemontagne's early pictures were taken for the work of one Champaigne or the other.

That is the background to the label attributed to. It means that specialists believe a picture is probably by Philippe de Champaigne himself, judging by its handling and its history, while no signature or document proves it. The label claims more than workshop of, which would give the picture to his assistants, and more than follower of, which means another painter working in his manner.