There is a photograph of this work from Etienne Bignou's archives giving the measurement of 60 x 73 cm. This photograph corresponds with the Vollard photo no. 440 mentioned above and reproduced in the plates volume [Rewald, 1996]. The present measurements are 54.5 by 65 cm.
According to information from Georges Keller to Rewald, he had bought the painting from Vollard before World War II. The canvas had been in a fire and had been badly damaged. As a result it had to be repainted extensively and also cropped along one or two edges. In 1975, in a letter to Maître Guy Loudmer, Rewald called it "une véritable ruine."
In 1986 Rewald, furthermore, made the following statement: "In the meantime the 'retouches,' which constituted a considerable overpainting, were removed in the hope that enough was left of the original, even after the fire, to provide it with some kind of authenticity. I have seen the picture without the repaints in the restoration laboratory of the Metropolitan Museum of New York and was shocked by its condition. Since then it has been not only just retouched but - in my opinion - totally repainted. I believe that at present there is no longer a single brushstroke by Cézanne on this canvas." (Letter to Urban Art Research Center, June 26, 1986)
Subsequent to this note in Rewald, the painting has been subjected to another restoration campaign but unfortunately this has not revealed any more of the artist's original brushwork.
