Very good copy on panel formerly Cassirer Amsterdam, 1936. Photo in Witt Library.

Very loose copy of whole series cleverly sold by Sotheby's at same sale as variants (London, 8.vii.99 #54, all on copper laid on panel, 42.5 x 58)--attributed there to Jan the Elder's studio although neither landscape nor figures look very good. Another set of copies on canvas, 54.5 x 85.5, with Finck (Brussels), 30.xi.63 #s 46-49, clearly not very good. Yet another set on copper, 53 x 80, somewhere French (RKD page with no annotation). Set of copies by Jan the Younger on canvas, 50 x 73, sold Brussels (Finck) Nov24-Dec17, 1967. These are monogrammed and dated 1642. Very interesting copy of Earth with a Fire that's a variant of Getty painting formerly collection Etienne Delarmay. Copy of this version of Earth with Alberts van Smizzen (??), Amsterdam, 1990. Copies of various distance from original (probably none directly from the studio of Jan the Elder):

• Helbing sale, Zunfthaus, Zurich February 25-26, 1924, #451 (canvas, 86 x 53 cm)
• Heyden sale, Cercle Artistique, Antwerp, April 6-8, 1925, #135 (canvas, 59 x 96 cm)
• Saltram House (57 x 91 cm)
• Schaubroeck sale, Giroux, Brussels, May 3-5, 1927, # 322 (copper, 69.5 x 86.5 cm)
• Sotheby's Monaco, December 2-3, 1988, #632 (copper, 56 x 93.5 cm)
• Galerie Charpentier, Paris, April 2, 1957, #3 (panel, 56 x 96 cm)
• Bearsted sale, Christie's, London, December 13, 1929, #110 (panel, 56 x 80 cm)
• Simon sale, Drouot, paris, May 10, 1939, #111 (canvas, 38 x 55 cm)
• Weber sale, Fievez, Brussels, July 7-8, 1926, #19 (copper, 31 x 42 cm)
• Lempertz, Cologne, November 11, 1964, #156 (copper, 68 x 89 cm)

Particularly bad copies of varying degree:

• Christie's London, December 11, 1981
• Sotheby's London, March 24, 1971, #99 (panel, 52.5 x 81.5 cm)
• Bevilacqua sale, Sangiorgi, Venice, October 15-22, 1900, #482 (panel, 55 x 95 cm)
• Schaffer, Berlin, 1930 (48.5 x 76 cm)
• Bukowski, Stockholm, November 1966, #133 (59.5 x 92 cm)

The Rome "Allegory of Earth" is part of a series of the elements which Jan Brueghel painted between 1606-1611. The series currently resides in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj. See Also:

• Allegory of Fire: Venus in the Forge of Vulcan (Rome)
• Allegory of Water (Rome)
• Allegory of Air (Rome)

All these panels are quite badly warped, especially that of Fire.

This series is variant of one that has been split up (cf. Ertz #s 494, 498, 503 & 510). Also variant of full series in Lyons, formerly attributed to Jan the Younger but now accepted by Ertz as Jan the Elder. And there's been another less good copy of whole series on art market in London. Copy of this one, Earth, in Ales, Mus. de la Ville.

But in point of fact all of those other sets are more closely related to the Lyons version of Earth than to this one. I don't know if that is an argument for its priority or just an indication that is was more available for imitation somehow and at some time. In the RKD file Voorordening/Elements/Earth there are many photographs of versions and variants of varying degrees of quality. Some go under title "Allegory of Abundance" or some such. I wonder if they were originally painted as part of a series or if they were produced as independent works. Some are remarkably awful and very distant; I'd put some maybe in 18th century. They develop a completely different landscape feeling and all sorts of different landscape variations: a different castle in distance, or a scene of harvest in the fields. They do relate to both of the variants, Lyons and DP, but more to Lyons.

The panel on the back show the monogram 'RB' of an unidentified Antwerp panel maker. Idem on the back of companion piece Allegory of Water (Rome).