A Mediterranean coastal inlet with merchants unloading boats, a temple beyond

The Asselin family moved from Dieppe to Amsterdam in circa 1621, changing the spelling of their name. After studying with the battle painter Jan Martszen the Younger (c. 1609-after 1647), a nephew and follower of Esaias van de Velde (1587-1630), Asselyn became one of the most important of the second generation of so-called 'Dutch Italianate' painters. In the winter of 1635 he travelled to Rome via France, becoming a member of the Schildersbent, an association of Northern artists in the Eternal City. After seven years in Italy, he spent several years in Lyons and Paris, returning to Amsterdam circa 1647, where his portrait was etched by Rembrandt (c. 1648; B. 277).

We are grateful to Anne Charlotte Steland-Steif for confirming the attribution on the basis of photographs. Dr. Steland-Steif considers this picture to have been painted shortly after Asselijn'’s return to Amsterdam. A painting of a similar subject is in the Staatliche Gemäldegalerie, Schwerin, bearing a monogram and the date 1647.