Focus on this artwork and discuss the History.
The provenance of the work before 1802 is uncertain, with Christie's adding "(possibly)" to almost every paragraph in their description, until it came into the possession of George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer by 1802. After that it remained the property of the Spencer family until 2010, when Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, decided to auction it with nearly 800 other artworks not deemed core to the Althorp collection in order to raise funds for restoration work at the estate. It was sold at the lower end of the Christie's estimate of between £8m and £12m to Konrad Bernheimer for £9 million ($13.7 million). This is the second highest price ever paid for Rubens' work at auction, after the Massacre of the Innocents, now in Toronto, which was sold at Sotheby's in London on 10 July 2002, for £49.5 million to Canadian businessman and art collector Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet.
Massacre of the Innocents Diana, Princess of Wales Althorp George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer Toronto provenance Christie's Sotheby's Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet Konrad Bernheimer