A wooded landscape with hunters shooting duck

The influence of Paul Bril is certainly evident in this picture. Ryckaert travelled to Italy in 1605-10, and his early works show the influence of Bril's oeuvre at that point, although there is no evidence that the two ever made contact. However, this lot is more comparable to Paul Bril's later works, in particular to a group of marshy woodland scenes by Bril from the early 1620s, all on canvas, of which two are in the Louvre, Paris (inv. nos. 1113 and DL 1970-4), where the artist adopted a lowered viewpoint and a more naturalistic approach to landscape. On this basis, it is possible to date this picture to circa 1622-31. Another treatment of this composition by Ryckaert, presumed to be a secondary version, on panel and of larger dimensions (28 x 40 in.), from the the collection of the late Lord Wraxall at Tyntesfield, was sold in these Rooms, 11 December 2002, lot 20.