Joseph van Bredael (Antwerp 1688-1739 Paris)

The right half of this composition relates to a painting by Jan Breughel I, signed and dated 1603, in a private collection (K. Ertz, Jan Brueghel Der Ältere (1568-1625), Kritischer Katalog der Gemälde, Lingen, 2008, I, pp. 343-9, no. 168, illustrated). Bredael was employed to copy works by Jan Breughel I in 1706 by the merchant J. de Witte. He later enjoyed the patronage of the Duke of Orlans in Paris. This painting also compares closely, both in the general composition and the main figure groups, with another painting by Bredael, of The Entrance of Mayence, in the Landesmuseum, Mainz (Inv.Nr. 715; Ertz, op. cit., 2006, p. 160, no. E52*, fig. 21), which was previously attributed to the Studio, or Circle of Jan Breughel I (K. Ertz, Jan Brueghel Der Ältere (1568-1625), Die Gemälde mit kritischen Oeuvrekatalog, Cologne, 1979, p. 140, fig. 144).