Lot Essay
This composition might have been inspired by a painting of the same subject, dated 1623, by Pieter Lastman, with whom Moeyaert is thought to have collaborated, now in the Hermitage (inv. 3093; C.T. Seifert, Pieter Lastman. Studien zu Leben und Werk, Petersberg, 2011, p. 163, fig. 169). Although Moeyaert omitted the Angels' wings and added buildings and a well to the left, the general arrangement of the figures is closely comparable to that in the painting.