Though not apparently a direct copy from any known work, the composition of this drawing surely derives from motifs and prototypes found in the frescoes and drawings of the Bril brothers, Paul and Matthijs, whose works had such a profound influence on landscape both in Italy and in the Netherlands during the late 16th and early 17th century. Neither the old attribution on the
verso, to Isaac Major, nor the more recent one to Jan Breughel the Younger, can be sustained.
1. For a full account, see C. Hendriks, Northern Landscapes on Roman Walls, The Frescoes of Matthijs and Paul Bril, Florence 2003