Dirck Stoop (Utrecht, c. 1618-c. 1686)

Although L. Salerno points out that there is no evidence that Stoop travelled to Italy (Pittori Paesaggio del Seicento a Roma, III, 1980), the artist must have studied the oeuvre of his contemporary, the Dutch-Italianate artist, Pieter van Laer, il Bamboccio (Haarlem 1599-?1642). The present picture can be included in a group of Bambocciesque paintings by Stoop, of which the most notable is in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden.