A harbour scene with soldiers sitting around a fire, figures at work on their boats nearby

The present lot is one of six known replicas, equal in size, after Bril's picture on copper in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, that he painted in 1601 in Rome. According to Luuk Pijl most versions have been executed in Antwerp by a later, anonymous follower, and not in Bril's studio in Rome. On the reverse of at least two replicas, the Antwerp maker's mark of Peter Stas can be found. Mr. Pijl points out that the present lot was also likely an Antwerp product, since copies after Bril's compositions were in great demand. The prototype is by 1601 documented in the collection of Leopold Wilhelm.

The other five versions, painted on either copper or panel, are in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Prado, Madrid; Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; and in a German private collection.

We are grateful to Luuk Pijl for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.