The expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael

We are grateful to Dr. Peter van den Brink, Director of the Aachen Suermondt Museum and to Prof. Dr. Max Martens from the Ghent University for confirming independently that this is a relatively early work by Aertsen, painted circa 1535-40, when he was associated with the workshop of Jan Sanders van Hemessen in Antwerp. Though already in his late twenties, Aertsen's development as an artist did not seem to have begun in earnest until he settled in Antwerp in 1535, and the twenty years that he spent there before returning to Amsterdam in 1555 were crucial in forming his style and establishing his reputation. Dr. Walter Gibson has also confirmed the attribution to Aertsen.