A mountainous landscape with horsemen meeting a beggar on a path, a lake in the distance

Joos de Momper II received his initial training from his father, who also registerd him as a master at the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1581. He made a career of producing extensive mountainous landscapes with panoramic views such as the present composition. His description of leaves and distant trees with unblended touches of the brush that appear like tiny dots is instantly recognizable. This composition was most likely painted around 1605 since the foliage in the middleground, for example is more distinctly articulated than in his later works, with smaller, tighter touches of the brush (see K. Ertz, op. cit.).
The elegantly dressed horsemen contrast strongly with the beggar and the other travellers in the composition. This juxtaposition may have given the picture a moralizing meaning to the careful beholder.