Abraham Govaerts and Ambrosius Francken the Younger

Private collection, Germany;

Anonymous sale, London, Christie’s, 16 December 1998, lot 2 (as Abraham Govaerts and Ambrosius Francken the Elder), for £117,000;

With Richard Green, London;

From whom acquired in March 1999.

U. Härting, Frans Francken der Jüngere (1581–1642): die Gemälde mit kritischem Œuvrekatalog, Freren 1989, p. 182;

U. Härting and K. Borms, Abraham Govaerts: Der Waldmaler (1589–1626), Schoten 2003, p. 169, no. 193, reproduced in colour p. 144.

This vibrant landscape is an example of the kind of collaborative painting that became a hallmark of seventeenth-century Flemish art: the setting was executed by Abraham Govaerts, while the staffage was painted by Ambrosius Francken the Younger. Datable to around 1625–30 on account of the skilful execution of Francken's figures and the colouration typical of Govaerts' late style, this picture likely belongs to a group of works completed by Francken after Govaerts' death.