As a rare depiction of an African servant in seventeenth-century Spain, it has been suggested that this painting once belonged to Archbishop Pedro de Castro y Quiñones, who, around the time the work was painted, published instructions promoting the baptism of Africans in Seville. The archbishop was of the belief that salvation should be available to all, irrespective of social status or ethnicity. The work has thus been interpreted as a representation of the salvation of the poor; the maid is experiencing a spiritual awakening as she bears witness to the miracle that is taking place in the neighbouring room.
Exhibition of Spanish Paintings, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1920-1921
An Exhibition of Spanish Paintings, The Arts Council, National Gallery, London, 1947
Old Master Paintings from the Beit Collection, National Gallery of South Africa, Cape town, 1949-1950
L'Age d'or espagnol, La Peinture en Espagne et en France autour du caravagisme, Bordeaux, 1955
Il Seicento Europeo, Palazzo del Espozizione, Rome, 1956-1957
Exhibition of Paintings from Irish Collections, Municipal Gallery of Art, Dublin, 1957
Velázquez y lo Velazqueno, Cason del Nuen Retiro, Madrid, 1960-1961
Acquisitions 1986-1988, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1988
Velázquez, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1990
Diego Velazquez, Grand Palais, Paris, April - July 2015
Master European Paintings from the National Gallery of Ireland, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 6 June - 9 August 1992; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, 19 September - 6 December 1992; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 13 January - 28 March 1993; IBM Gallery, New York, 27 April - 26 June 1993
European Masterpieces from the National Museum of Ireland, National Gallery, Canberra, 25 June 1994 - 3 October 1994; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Adelaide, 21 October 1994 - 15 January 1995
Velazquez in Seville, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, 8 August - 20 October 1996
Velazquez y Sevilla, Monasterio de la Cartuja de Sta. Ma de las Cuevas, Centro Audaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla, 1 October 1999 - 12 December 1999
Velazquez, National Gallery, London, 18 October 2006 - 21 January 2007
Fabulás de Velazquez: Mitología e Historia Sagrada en el Siglo de Oro, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 19 November 2007 - 24 February 2008
Lines of Vision. Irish Writers at the National Gallery of Ireland, 8 October 2014 —12 April 2015
Spain: Art and Empire in the Golden Age, The San Diego Museum of Art, USA, 18 May 2019 - 02 September 2019