The Elements, the last of the series of four canvases conceived by Jacopo after the Noah cycle and the Seasons, is dated around 1576-1577. There are three known incomplete series produced by the bottega, in which Jacopo´s degree of involvement varies. Of the original series, executed mainly by Francesco, Air (Berlin, Kaiser Friederich Museum) remains; of a later set produced in 1578-1580 and executed chiefly by Leandro, Earth (Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery) survives; and of the last, dated to 1584-1585, Water and Fire (Sarasota, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art) remain. The painting of Fire depicts Vulcan twice: in the foreground, working at the forge with Venus, Cupid and an assistant, and at the top, flying through the sky in a chariot drawn by dogs. The Prado canvas is a fairly faithful reproduction of the Sarasota picture, but excludes the motif of Vulcan in the chariot. The fact that the surviving canvases from all three series all show a deity flying through the sky in the upper part (Juno in Air, Cybele in Earth, Vulcan in Fire, and Neptune in Water), and that this motif is missing from the Prado painting, suggests that The Forge was conceived as a separate representation of the Vulcan episode as opposed to part of a series of the four elements. This would make it the bottega´s second rendering of the theme after the magnificent earlier version (P5263). The history of the painting corroborates this assumption, since it was incorporated separately into the royal collection in the first half of the 18th century (Text drawn from Falomir, M.: Los Bassano en la España del Siglo de Oro, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2001, p. 241).