This picture, along with Spring and Winter, was probably part of a decorative scheme of the four Seasons, from which Autumn is missing. Influenced by Tintoretto, the works may have been painted by a Flemish artist in Venice, but no certain attribution has been made.
Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti) (Italian (Venetian), 1519 - 1594)
Jacopo Robusti was nicknamed Tintoretto 'little dyer' after his father who was a cloth dyer. He became one of the most prolific artists in Venice, specialising in large-scale religious narrative scenes, altarpieces, mythological subjects and portraits. His striking compositions often defied convention through exaggerated perspective and bold foreshortening of figures, and his quick work was sometimes criticized for its lack of finish. He may have trained with Titian for a short time. Tintoretto ran his busy workshop as a family business employing two sons and a daughter.
