Workshop of Jan Breughel the Younger, Workshop of, Jan van Kessel the Younger

The panel has recently been cradled and the painting cleaned and restored. There is an old horizontal panel join running across the centre and two parallel splits running 1 cm. above it for 60 cm. in from the left hand edge. Another runs 1 cm. below it for 70 cm., starting from the right hand edge. Along the upper margin there is an 85 cm. horizontal split running in from the upper right hand edge and another of circa 50 cm. running from the left hand edge, 1 cm. above the first. In addition there is a split running for 75 cm. from the right hand edge about a third of the way down, and another minor split of 8 cm. in the upper left. Inspection under ultraviolet light shows restoration around all of the above. The remainder of the paint surface appears to be in good order with restoration mostly of a local nature, for example strengthening to the foreground lower left, details to the tree trunks and some strengthenings to the figures.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The prototype for this work is that by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Hendrik van Balen, now in the Galleria Doria Pamphilij, Rome.¹ A copy of the same composition by Jan Brueghel the Younger and Hendrik van Balen is in the Musée des Beaux Arts in Lyon.² A number of compositions such as this, which originated with Jan Brueghel the Elder, were widely sought after in the 17^th century, and the workshop of Jan Brueghel produced many copies and variants after them in collaboration with other hands. Ertz publishes two other versions of this composition with the landscape and still life attributed to Jan van Kessel the Younger, both in a private collections.³

1. See P. Boccardo and C. di Fabio (eds), Dipinti Fiamminghi e Olandesi della Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Genoa 1996, pp. 76-77, reproduced.
2. Oil on panel, 46 x 83 cm., now in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Lyon, inv. no. A-74. See K. Ertz, Jan Brueghel the Younger, Freren 1984, pp. 357–358, cat. no. 193, reproduced p. 360.
3. See K. Ertz, Jan van Kessel der Ältere, Jan van Kessel der Jüngere, Jan van Kessel der Andere, Lingen 2012, p. 395, cat. nos 2 and 2a, reproduced.