A hermit praying before a tomb, a landscape with ruins beyond

Better-known for his small, highly-finished Rhineland views with carefully wrought landscape details, this unusual oil on copper instead shows the influence of Gerrit Dou, and is related to another painting by Griffier of the same subject, sold at Christie's, Amsterdam, 7 May 1997, lot 23 (RKD record no. 33194). Jan Griffier moved to England in 1666, and painted some English views; he also excelled as an etcher, producing portraits after Lely and Kneller. As Horace Walpole noted, he lived a largely peripatetic life, travelling on his own yacht while sketching the scenery. He returned to Holland around 1695, where he stayed for about ten years before returning to England, around which time his subject matter widened. It is perhaps in this period that the present work was executed.