There are three versions of this drawing. Of the other two, one is slightly larger and is without the vase and book on the table, and the other has background details. This very early drawing is an illustration to the artist's prose romance, The Tales of Sorrentino, the subject of which was the interference of the devil in the course of true love. It can be dated to 1843 as it is mentioned in a letter to his mother. The poem is now missing and is presumed lost following objections about it by Rossetti's sisters.
Charles Fairfax Murray, thence to his son Arthur R.Murray Sotheby's sale 15th February 1961, part of lot 6 Sir Geoffrey Mander L.S.Lowry RA
H.C.Marillier, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, (George Bell & Sons, London 1899), page 214.This is a larger version of the drawing for comparison. V.Surtees, The Paintings and Drawings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti ( 1828-1882).A Catalogue Raisonne, (Oxford University Press, Oxford 1971) page 3, number 10a.