An allegory of the month of August

The present picture relates to a composition developed by Adriaen van Stalbemt on a smaller scale for his so-called Triumph of Melancholy, which is known in three autograph versions, datable to circa 1620-1630, including one which was in the collection of the celebrated art historian Sir William Stirling-Maxwell of Keir, 9th Baronet (1818-1878). The group is discussed by Ursula Härting in her article 'Adriaen Stalbemt als Figurenmaler', Oud Holland, 1981, no. 95, pp. 9-10. The present picture may once have been part of a series depicting the Twelve Months or the Four Season, or may be part of a more complicated allegorical scheme.