The so-called 'sportsman' in this painting seems a little young, and the surrounding items - the broken bust, the animal skull, the tomb monument - suggest that this is in fact a meditation on the passing of all things. It is very unlike anything known from the hand of Houbraken, who went on to become one of the founding fathers of Dutch art history with his book of artists' biographies, the 'Groote Schouburgh'. It has recently been suggested that it may be a youthful copy of a painting by Matthius Withoos.
