Typical of Hackaert’s forest scenes, the artist draws the viewer’s gaze into the picture along an avenue of trees to a patch of sunlight filtering through the leafy canopy above. Hackaert painted several versions of the same scene, varying details such as the figures, of which the best known is in the Rikjsmuseum, Amsterdam (c.1675–1680). In view of their shared formal elegance, the group is usually dated to the 1670s. The figures in the present picture may be by another hand, as is often the case in Hackaert’s landscapes. They have been attributed to his frequent collaborator and friend, Adriaen van de Velde, although The Wallace Collection’s picture may date from after the latter’s death in 1672.