Figures in an Italian Garden

This Italiante garden does not appear to be based on a particular site. The picture can be dated by comparison with the artist's 'Landscape with Narcissus' of 1668 (The Hague, Thurkow collection). The Dutch art critic Arnold Houbraken records that Adriaen van de Velde often painted the figures in Moucheron's landscapes; the figures in this painting are almost certainly by van de Velde. The costume is of the later 1660s.