NICOLAS GUÉRARD (CIRCA 1648-1719) AFTER PIETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER (1525-1569)

According to the dedication and inscription in the lower border, lacking in the present impression, this engraving was commissioned by Abraham Brueghel, the great-grandson of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and dedicated to Gasparo Altieri. The small inscription at lower centre left, just above the borderline, reveals that the composition, depicted here in reverse, was at the time attributed to Abraham's grandfather, Jan Brueghel the Elder, rather than his great-grandfather Pieter. It was only in 2010 that the The Wine of Saint Martin's Day was identified at the Prado, Madrid, as the work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the largest of all his paintings.