Lot 1473 Dα

This piece shows a robbery occurring on the outskirts of a forest - a staffage motif common in Dutch paintings of the 17th century. However, the piece instead aims to showcase the sandy Dutch landscape in which the scene takes place. This large, impressive work by Pieter Molijn, one of the leading landscape painters of his time in Haarlem, is characterised by its vivid colours and the lively contrast between the light areas of the sky and background and the parts overshadowed by the thick vegetation.
Although Molijn developed his own unique style of figural staffage, Edwin Buijsen, curator of the Mauritshuis in The Hague, recognises the hand of the Haarlem painter Esaias van de Velde in these figures (according to a written confirmation).
This painting is listed by the RKD as the work of Pieter de Molijn (afb. no. 0000002094).