

Dr. Fred G. Meijer, to whom we are grateful for endorsing the attribution to Jan Brueghel the Elder, dates the present work to circa 1618, and suggests that it may have been produced as a gift for a patron or a friend. The existence of a larger, later version of the composition, most likely from the Brueghel Studio, however, suggests that either this painting itself, or at least the design, was retained in the vicinity of the studio for at least some years.4
1 See K. Ertz, Jan Brueghel der Ältere (1568-1625). Kritischer Katalog der Gemälde, Lingen 2008-10, vol. III, p. 961, cat. no. 454, reproduced in color p. 962.
2 See Ertz 2008-10, vol. III, p. 973, cat. no. 459, reproduced in color p. 974.
3 See Ertz 2008-10, vol. III, p. 900, cat. no. 425, reproduced in color p. 901.
4 Formerly with Galerie de Jonckheere, Paris and Brussels.