ATTRIBUTED TO ADRIAEN VAN STALBEMT | DIANA AND HER NYMPHS BATHING

Major C. G. Phillips;

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 8 April 1932, lot 142 (as Poelenburgh), for 17 guineas, to Houston;

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 4 December 1953, lot 167 (as Poelenburgh), for 32 guineas, to Marcas;

Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 24 January 2003, lot 41 (as Attributed to Adriaen van Stalbemt);

There acquired.

The Flemish painter and printmaker Adriaen van Stalbemt mostly painted landscapes with religious or mythological scenes. His eclectic style was influenced by Jan Breughel I, Hendrick van Balen, Paul Bril, and Adam Elsheimer, to whom a group of Stalbemt's pictures had previously been given. As a landscape artist, Stalbemt was distinguished for his figural representation, which can be admired in this painting. The elegant figures in this composition are depicted with such accuracy and precision that even in the far background one can continue to appreciate the details in the birds.

We are grateful to Fred Meijer for endorsing the attribution to Adriaen van Stalbemt on the basis of photographs.