Until 1972, the Museo del Prado catalogues record that the signature of M. Hobbema (with the MH intertwined) appears on the tree stump. In the 1985 catalogue this signature is said to be apocryphal. Whatever the case, recent studies of the picture have been unable to reveal any such signature. Valdivieso (1973) considers it to be an original by Jan Looten (1618-ca. 1681). The composition is reminiscent of certain landscapes by Jan van Kessel (1626-1679), such as A Wood near The Hague with a View of the Huis ten Bosch, dating from around 1665 (London, Dulwich Picture Gallery) or Landscape with Huis ten Bosch, from around 1660 (Indianapolis Museum of Art), but its state of conservation hinders a just appreciation of the painting and, as a result, any accurate attribution (Posada Kubissa, T.: Pintura holandesa en el Museo Nacional del Prado. Catálogo razonado, 2009, p. 323).