Provenance:

Two printed fragments of an 19th Century printed label to the stretcher and the frame liner from an unidentified source, cataloguing the work as “.... Rubens”, with the above title and provenance given as: “Formerly the property of the eminent Art Connoisseur, W. Buchanan” (the Scottish art dealer, William Buchanan (1777 - 1864), Esq. of Paul Mall;
Black inventory number 531 NN to the stretcher,
Acquired by the present Private Collection, Montreal at Phillips, Montreal, June 26, 1980, lot 204, catalogued as “HOLLAND 17TH C” titled: “Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist and Donors”, illustrated

Note:

The 19th Century owner, William Buchanan (1777-1864), was a Scottish art dealer who made a career of selling paintings from the continent to wealthy patrons in England. He also developed his own art collection and in 1824 published the two volume “Memoirs of Painting” with a “Chronological History of the Importance of Pictures by the Great Masters into England since the French Revolution” (London: Ackerman)

This canvas has been previously given to Rubens in the old catalogue entry to the stretcher. The work has also been referred to as a painting by Rubens’ assistant, Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1599 - 1641) with possibly Cornelis de Vos (1584-1651) (assistant to both Rubens and Van Dyck). This impressive large scale canvas appears to be a collaboration of several artists assisting the master in his workshop.