Lucas van Valckenborch (Leuven/Mechelen 1535/45-1597 Frankfurt am Main)

The present work is probably a late work and can be compared to the signed picture Christ healing the possessed of Gerasa of 1597, in the Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts, Brussels (A.Wied, Lucas und Marten van Valckenborch, 1990, p.182, no.88, ill.) of which a second version is in the Prado (A.Wied, op.cit, p.183, no.89, ill.). Its small format is unusual in Valckenborch's oeuvre. The setting of the scene in black framing lines suggests that it is a finished composition and not a fragment. The staffage is the work of another hand, possibly Gillis Mostaert.
Dr Alexander Wied has confirmed the attribution in 2001 to van Valckenborch on the basis of a photograph.