Abraham Bloemaert (Gorinchem 1566-1651 Utrecht)

This work is unique in Bloemaert's oeuvre, making it difficult to date. In 1604, van Mander praised the inventiveness of Bloemaert's landscapes. This painting is distinctly more sophisticated than the earlier Predications of Saint John (Paris, Louvre) and closer in style to Bloemaert's Baptism of 1602 (Ottawa, The National Gallery), which has similarly elongated figures. The dog is identical with that in Adam naming the Animals of 1604 (Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 29 May 1985, lot 41), while the mountainous scenery compares closely with that in Adam and Eve Working of 1604 (known from a drawing in the Louvre, Paris).

The dominant influence for the mountainous landscape is that of Bloemaert's contemporary Joos de Momper II. Bloemaert was also looking back to landscapes by Pauwels Franck, Jacopo Zucchi and Bacchiacca, and to designs by Lucas van Leyden and Herri Met de Bles.