Oil on canvas, 184cm by 107cm.
The painting was purchased from the artist by John, 5th Earl of Exeter (1648-1700), for the sum of 100 crowns.
It is recorded in the 1688 Burghley Inventory: ‘The Tea Roome…1 picture over the Chimney of Elisha and the widdow of Sarepta by –.’
Brandi trained initially with the sculptor Alessandro Algardi (1598-1654), who considered that he was more suited to painting.
He spent some time in Naples, but by 1647 was back in Rome working in the studio of the artist Giovanni Lanfranco (1582-1647).
There he met Mattia Preti (1613-1699), an artist with whom he would frequently collaborate.
