The central part of the present drawing corresponds to a painting by Snyders of around 1610-15 in the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp, H. Robels, Frans Snyders, Stilleben- und Tiermaler, Munich, 1989, no. 203 I, illustrated. The drawing may indeed be preparatory for the painting: either the canvas was cut down to censor the foreground group, or the painter himself decided to simplify the composition. Snyders was in the habit of making very finished drawings which correspond closely to the final paintings; for example the study formerly at Holkham Hall of the Wild Boar at Bay for the painting in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, sold at Christie's, London, 2 July 1991, lot 64, illustrated in colour