Jacques de Gheyn II (Antwerp 1565-1629 The Hague)

According to I.Q. van Regteren Altena, who dated it early in the artist's career, 'as a very careless sketch and yet a complete composition, [this drawing] occupies a special place in de Gheyn's oeuvre' (op. cit., 1983, p. 32).

A similar signature can be seen on a drawing showing a young man holding a pen in the Amsterdam Museum (van Regteren Altena, op. cit., 1983, no. 665).