This painting was thought to be by Jan Vermeer (1632–1675) in the early twentieth century, when it passed from the great art dealer Joseph Duveen (1869–1939) to one of The Met’s most important donors, Jules S. Bache (1861–1944). It recalls the many head studies of anonymous young models by Flemish painter Michiel Sweerts (1618–1664), but most scholars today associate the painting with Bourdon, a French painter who studied in Rome.