(Malines 1576–1632 Amsterdam)
The Struggle of Men and Animals against Death and Time
oil on copper, 36 x 49 cm, framed

With the brand of the plate maker Peeter Stas and old inventory no. 40 on the reverse.

Provenance:
Collection of Pierre Lyonnet (1708–1789), Amsterdam;
sale of the Lyonnet Collection, Amsterdam, 11 April 1791, lot 230 (to Oosterling);
Private collection, Belgium

This present pictorial composition was repeated by Vinckboons and his workshop and also copied; seven versions are known to date:

(1) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston;
(2) Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires (as “after Vinckboons”);
(3) sale, Auktionsverket, Stockholm, 29 May 1991, lot 4832 (as “Circle of Vinckboons”);
(4) sale, Christie’s, Amsterdam, 13 May 2014, lot 37 (as “Workshop of Vinckboons”);
(5) sale, Phillips, London, 8 December 1992, lot 183 (as “Circle of Vinckboons”);
(6) sale, Sotheby’s, London, 15 December 1982, lot 119 (as “after Vinckboons”);
(7) Augustinermuseum, Rattenberg/Tyrol (as “after Vinckboons”)

In addition to these paintings, a copper engraving by Boetius Adamsz exists. Bolswert published it in 1610. The brand of Peeter Stas provides a clue that helps date the painting, as it corresponds with the form he used from 1607 onwards. And as none of his known brands are dated later than 1610, he seems to have retired or died that year. The present painting can therefore be dated between 1607 and 1610.