In 1862 John and Joséphine Bowes made several purchases at the sale of the collection of the Conde de Quinto who had died in 1860. The Conde de Quinto was a politician, courtier, writer and art collector who had built up a magnificent collection facilitated by his position as Director of the Museo de la Trinidad in Madrid. The Bowes' purchased this painting together with Goya’s portrait of Juan Antonio Melendéz Valdés and over seventy other Spanish paintings.