Two preparatory drawings by Guercino for this painting are known. The first drawing corresponds compositionally with some changes to the Hermitage painting; on the back of the sheet there is a separate figure of the executioner. This drawing is in a private collection in
London,
England. The
Museum of Fine Arts in
Boston has a drawing that repeats the drawing from London, it has an indication that
Francesco Bartolozzi made an engraving from it, but this work itself is unknown or its prints have not been preserved. In the church of San Francesco in Monteluco there is a small copy of this painting by Ercole Gennari (46 by 35 cm); in all likelihood, the copy was made in the workshop of Guercino, who was once a student of Ercole Gennari's father Benedetto Gennari the Elder and maintained relations with his teacher's family until the end of his life. Ercole himself was married to Guercino's sister Lucia. The painting was in Ferrara for a long time, then for a long time its whereabouts where unknown. It resurfaced once again in the first half of the 19th century in London, where it was in the possession of the British merchant G. Farrer, from whom it was acquired by the King of the Netherlands,
William II of the Netherlands. It was bought at the posthumous sale of the collection of
William II of the Netherlands by
Nicholas I of Russia in 1850 and since then has been in the
Hermitage Museum in
Saint Petersburg. ==Description==