This scene belongs to the type of Italianate landscape which Asselijn cultivated in Holland based on drawings and sketches made from the life during his stay in Rome. Blankert (1965) dates the work to 1648. However, Steland-Stief (1971) believes it to have been painted around 1647, the first year Asselijn is documented in Amsterdam after returning from Italy, on account of the stylistic similarity of the figures to those in Peasants eating (Dresden, Gemäldegalerie, no. 1592, whereabouts unknown since 1945), signed and dated that year.

Compositions of this type, in which a luminous landscape with Roman ruins is viewed from inside a cave or cavern, derived from Pieter van Laer (1599-after 1642) and, ultimately, from Cornelis van Poelenburch (1594/95-1667). They were introduced in Holland by Asselijn, from whom they were borrowed by various painters of Italianate landscapes including Nicolas Berchem (1620-1683).

Asigned replica (Steland-Stief 1971, no. 66) and two variations of this scene are known: one on panel, signed (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv.A2314), and another on canvas, signed with a monogram (Steland-Stief 1971, no. 67) (Posada Kubissa, T.: Pintura holandesa en el Museo Nacional del Prado. Catálogo razonado, 2009, pp. 296-297).