The figure of the hermit is based on "Paphnutius" in the series "Solitudo" by Jan and Raphael Sadeler; the landscape is based on another print by Sadeler, plate 23 ("Simeon") in the series called Sylvae, published in 1594. The foreground flowers and artichokes are Jan's own additions. Two other Ambrosiana paintings, Pijl catalogue #s a and f, are also based on prints from these series, which Borromeo owned. Pijl suggests that Borromeo probably requested this use of the prints, although Jan does not include in the paintings any attributes that would allow beholder to identify which saints these are -- he turns them into generic hermits.