Diana and her nymphs resting in a cave, among classical statues

J. Briels, Vlaamse Schilders in de Noordelijke Nederlanden, 1987, pp.67/8, states that Van Nieulandt belonged to the group of Flemish immigrants who settled in Amsterdam in the first years of the seventeenth century. Painting was a marginal career, as he was chiefly active as a dealer. His style shows various influences. In the 1640's he adapted to the pastoral taste, and underwent the influence of the Utrecht painter Cornelis van Poelenburgh. In the 1650's his pastoral scenes were placed in grotto's as in the present lot; see also his picture of Diana and Callisto in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Brunswick (R. Klessmann, Die Holländischen Gemälde, 1983, p.154, no215, with ill.).