Sebastiaan Vrancx, Circle of Jan Breughel the Younger

With Hermann Abels, Cologne, by 1938 (according to a label on the reverse and a note at the R.K.D., The Hague).

The actual painting is slightly less bright than the catalogue illustration suggests. The single panel is lightly bevelled on the upper and right edges, and is slightly bowed. There is a thin horizontal scratch of approx. 1.5 cm. in th upper right corner. Small scattered paint losses and flaking can be observed in the centre and along the left and lower edges. The paint surface has grown somewhat thin in places, e.g. in the figures lower right and in the sky. Some minor retouching in the sky is visible to the naked eye. The paint surface is covered with a dry and unevenly applied layer of varnish. The craquelure pattern is somewhat coarse in places. Inspection under ultra violet light is largely impeded by the dirty layer of varnish, but there's probably some strengthening in the figures and the carriage to the left. Offered in a decorative carved and gilt wood frame with thin cracks in all corners, otherwise, in good condition. (MW)
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Vrancx was often employed to paint the figures in landscapes done by his fellow Antwerp artists. This painting belongs to such a group of collaboration pieces in which different hands are discernible. Vrancx's staffage contribution can be dated to 1615 based on the similarity of the figures Vrancx painted in another collaboration piece with Tobias Verhaecht (1561-1631), Hunting scene of Emperor Maximilliaan I, now in the Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten, Brussels (inv. no. 2794), which is dated 1615. While Vrancx's authorship is secure, the identity of his landscape collaborator is unclear.  It has been suggested that it was painted by Jan Breughel the Younger (1601-1678)  which makes it one of the earliest known landscapes by the artist. Another name that can be associated with this work and the artistic legacy of Jan Breughel is Abraham Govaerts (1589-1626).