Attributed to Adriaen van Stalbemt (Antwerp 1580-1662)

This painting is sold with a letter of expertise from Dr. Klaus Ertz (1 September 2005), proposing an attribution to Adriaen Stalbemt in full, after first-hand inspection. He suggests that it dates to the 1620s and compares it to the Feast of the Gods in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, which is signed and dated 1622, as well as the Bacchanal in the Stibbert Museum in Florence. The four elements are here allegorised as figures with their traditional attributes: ‘Air’ is wearing a white veil with red feathers, behind her is ‘Water’ in the form of a man holding a cod, ‘Earth’ as a mother nurturing her child, and the man to her right holding a torch symbolises ‘Fire’.