View of a formal garden with sphinx fountains

The composition of the present drawing is close to that of an etching by the artist, for which a watercolour at the British Museum (inv. 1895,0915.1225), probably served as the model (N. Wedde, Isaac de Moucheron, 1667-1744. His Life and Works with a Catalogue Raisonné of his Drawings, Watercolours, Paintings and Etchings, Frankfurt am Main, 1996, I, nos. W151, E48, II, figs. 179, 265). While there are important differences, most notably the backgrounds (a pond and a flat landscape beyond in the etching, a gate-like structure of classical style here), there are also striking similarities (in reverse), such as the form and disposition of the trees behind the fountains. It is probable that the present sheet was a study on which the drawing in London was partly based, as is also suggested by its livelier and more exploratory penmanship.