‘Moses Saved from the Waters’ by Hendrick van Balen and Jan Brueghel the Younger.

The biblical episode of Pharaoh’s daughter discovering Moses on the waters of the Nile is generally depicted without any real reference to^16th-century Egypt. In the works of both Bonifacio Veronese (1487–1553) and Paolo Veronese (1528–1588), the scene is entirely transposed into a context contemporary to the painter and serves merely as a pretext for a genre scene. Only Nicolo dell’Abate (1510–1571) transposes the scene into a Greek context, but introduces a reference to Egypt through the four pyramids in the background, even though these probably refer much more to the Pyramid of Cestius in Rome in iconographic terms.

In the^17th century, the setting of the scene within Greek antiquity predominates, although contemporary references can still be found. Egyptian-style elements tended to feature more prominently in the architectural setting, where pyramids and obelisks appeared. Some painters, however, continued to exclude any elements evoking Egypt. This is the case with the painting housed at the Château de la Motte-Tilly, which is close to the Flemish aesthetic in terms of both its colour scheme and its treatment of the landscape, where everything is distinctly Western.

The setting of a mythological, historical or religious scene within a vast landscape is characteristic of^16th-century Flemish painting, notably in the works of Joachim Patinir (1483–1524). It was, however, Paul Bril (1553?–1626), a painter originally from Flanders who settled in Rome in 1582, who revived the fashion for this type of work, updating it with a heightened sense of realism and, above all, by lending greater monumentality to the elements of the landscape, thereby moving away from Mannerist anecdotalism. His Roman studio served as a meeting place for many Flemish artists, such as Jan Brueghel the Elder, known as ‘de Velours’, who brought this new style of landscape back with them upon their return home. Intended to adorn the collections of the powerful, these paintings were cabinet pieces and were often executed by several artists, with one painting the landscape, another the figures, and sometimes even a third artist commissioned to paint the animals or flowers.

The work can be linked to a painting on the same subject, held at Melford Castle in England. This work, attributed to Andriaen van Stalbemt (1580–1662), is a variation—likely a later one—of the painting held at Melford Castle. Thus, the two paintings share a very similar composition, differing only in their format and the expressions of the figures. The British work, however, differs in its treatment of the clothing, which is more detailed, as well as in its cool colour scheme, typical of Flemish works from the late^16th and early^17th centuries.

The quality of the figures’ execution, as well as that of the landscape, suggests that two specialist painters collaborated on this work, one for the landscape and the other for the figures. The figures can be linked to the work of Hendrick van Balen (1575–1632), a painter trained under Adam van Noort, who became master of the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp in 1592. A painter of mythological and biblical scenes, he specialised in painting figures for the landscapes of fellow painters such as Jan Brueghel the Elder and the Younger, Joos de Momper and Peter Paul Rubens.

His approach to depicting figures is characterised by great elegance of pose, fresh colours and a wealth of detail. His landscapes, meanwhile, are similar to those produced by Jan Brueghel II, known as ‘the Younger’. Born in 1601 in Antwerp and died in 1678 in the same city, he was the eldest son of Jan Brueghel I and, like his father—whose studio he took over—specialised in landscape painting. These are often characterised by the emphasis placed on the depiction of vegetation and the way in which the foliage of the trees structures the composition. This hypothesis is confirmed by the copperplate print sold at public auction at Sotheby’s in New York in 2014, attributed to the circle of Van Balen and Brueghel II.