The attribution is made on the basis of a comparison with the signed Children playing in a landscape, of 1628 (see C. Hofstede de Groot, 'Eenige, Schilderijen van weinig bekende Utrechtse Schilders', Oud Holland, 1919, pp. 111-4, illustrated). As pointed out by Hofstede de Groot, little is known about the artist, although he must have been a member of the well-known Utrecht glassmaker family van Zijl. Roelof van Zijl seems to have been influenced by Werner van den Valckert and Nicolaes Moeyaert.