DUTCH SCHOOL, 17TH CENTURY | DOUBLE-SIDED SHEET OF STUDIES OF FIGURES AND HORSEMEN

'Boer' (according to note on old mount)

This drawing was formerly attributed to Jan Asselijn, presumably on account of the monogram on the verso, but does not seem to relate very closely to his drawing style. An alternative attribution to Esaias van de Velde has also been suggested, and the figure types are indeed very close to those seen in that artist's paintings, but again the drawing style does not seem to be that of Esaias. The studies were, however, made by a very accomplished figure draughtsman, who was surely working at the same time and in much the same idiom as Asselijn and Esaias van de Velde.