A river landscape with a beggar's family and horsemen near a ruin

Hans-Ülrich Beck dates the present painting to circa 1624. The palette is still more dynamic than the monochromatic style he started working in from 1627 onwards. As with most of Van Goyen's output from the early 1620s, this work attests strongly to the influence of Esaias van de Velde under whom he had studied between 1616-18 in Haarlem. The richly dressed, colourful figures, the execution of folliage and the compositional structure of the landscape are all largely indebted to his teacher. It is thus not surprising that the picture was formerly attributed to Esaias van de Velde.
The style, conception and design can be closely compared to the 1625 dated tondo by Jan Van Goyen in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. no. 991-A5).