Although long attributed to Herman van Swanevelt (q.v.) when it was in the celebrated Liechtenstein collection, Vienna, the painting is a typical work from Jan Both’s Italian period. As is often the case at this stage in the artist’s career, the figures are the work of a collaborator, who may well be Francesco Albani. It is even possible to see that gaps were carefully left in the structure of the landscape, so that the figures could be inserted. Landscapes of this type were not based on any specific location, but were often created from drawings made from direct observation from nature. Numerous artists of the time used this technique including Claude Lorraine.

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