Bartholomeus Breenbergh Deventer bapt 1598 - 1657 Amsterdam

In a private communication Prof. Marcel Rothlisberger confirms the present painting to be by Breenbergh and notes that the classical female figure does not represent a specific mythological character; however, she can be possibly be identified as a goddess (Venus with Cupid or Diana and her nymphs).  Rothlisberger also compares the style and subject in this picture to two other panels of about the same size and both dated 1647, the first representing Diana and her Nymphs, in Grenoble (see M. Rothlisberger, Bartholomeus Breenbergh the Paintings, Berlin 1981, fig. 226) and the second in private collection (see M. Rothlisberger, Bartholomeus Breenbergh, catalogue of the exhibition, New York 1991, cat. no. 24).