Jacob van Geel (Middelburg c. 1585-1638/58 ?)

Van Geel's early works show close affinity with the paintings of his Middelburg contemporaries Mattheus Molanus and Christoffel van den Berghe. This painting is closer in style to the works of his later period of activity in Dordrecht, between 1633 and 1637, when his palette is more subdued. The general structure of the composition can be compared with van Geel's Landscape with trees and a river, of circa 1634-7, while the protruding, finger-like trees, which are a distinctive feature of his work, appear in the signed and dated work of 1635: Mountain landscape with ruins (N. Bakker, et. al., Masters of Middelburg: Exhibition in the honour of Laurens J. Bol, Amsterdam, March 1984, p. 250, no. 67, and p. 246, no. 65 respectively).