This is one of a series of heads by Ricci copied at the same size from Veronese's Feast in the House of Levi (Accademia, Venice). The picture was painted for the refectory of the Dominicans at SS. Giovanni e Paolo, and its source is, as inscribed on it, Luke 5.29. The heads here are of a boy's head, full-face, looking down, with right of him, a man's head, virtually in profile, looking to the left. They are taken from the area just left of the central arch in Veronese's composition, where a servant's head is shown in approximately the same relationship as in Ricci's picture to the head of an Apostle seated at the table, looking towards Christ. The heads also relate to the head of the elaborately dressed Scribe or Pharisee seated on the spectator's side of the table, right of the central arch, and from that of the Apostle seen behind him.

There exist further comparable heads by Ricci; it may be that Consul Smith originally owned all of the of the copies by Ricci of heads in Veronese's painting, but that for unknown reasons only some were sold to George III. Ricci's copies are painted as sketches - almost as if to suggest preparatory sketches for Veronese's picture, though there cannot have been any attempt to deceive, as it was widely published that Ricci had executed them. The painting was cleaned in 1977-8.