David Vinckboons - Tavern Scene "Boerenverdriet" or "Peasant Sorrow"
David Vinckboons
Tavern Scene "Boerenverdriet" or "Peasant Sorrow"
Oil on panel. 21 x 31.2 cm.
David Vinckboons repeatedly thematised the suffering of the Netherlandish rural population, who were tortured and killed by Spanish soldiers ("Boerenverdriet" or "Peasant Sorrow"). Starting in 1568, the rebellious Netherlands entered into the Eighty Years' War with Spain. Vinckboons and his family were themselves victims of this war and fled from Spanish-occupied Antwerp to the northern Netherlands in 1585.
Vinckboons created counterparts depicting peasants who have decided to fight back and drive the soldiers and their entourage out of their homes ("Boerenvreugd" or "Peasant Joy"). In the present composition, the painter also takes the side of the suffering population. A tavern is shown in which a richly dressed company is being spoilt with food and drink. It could be a family of the Spanish occupiers celebrating at the expense of the rural population. A poor man carrying a basket is expelled from the room under threat of violence. In the foreground, a begging woman kneels in front of a box filled with jewellery and money and pleads for alms.
The present painting "Peasant Sorrow" may have had a counterpart depicting the "Peasant Joy", as is the case with an almost identical version from 1609 with similar dimensions. These two panels, which were on the art market in 2005, may be the earliest version of the subject (see Klaus Ertz: David Vinckboons, Lingen 2016, nos. 160 and 161). There is another pair of paintings in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum (inv. nos. SK-A-1351 and -1352), but these have been dated to around 1619 or later on the basis of dendrological examination and were possibly painted by the artist's workshop (see Klaus Ertz, op. cit., nos. 162 and 163, here still dated around 1609 and with full attribution).
Provenance
Belgian private collection.
David Vinckboons
Tavern Scene "Boerenverdriet" or "Peasant Sorrow"
Oil on panel. 21 x 31.2 cm.
David Vinckboons repeatedly thematised the suffering of the Netherlandish rural population, who were tortured and killed by Spanish soldiers ("Boerenverdriet" or "Peasant Sorrow"). Starting in 1568, the rebellious Netherlands entered into the Eighty Years' War with Spain. Vinckboons and his family were themselves victims of this war and fled from Spanish-occupied Antwerp to the northern Netherlands in 1585.
Vinckboons created counterparts depicting peasants who have decided to fight back and drive the soldiers and their entourage out of their homes ("Boerenvreugd" or "Peasant Joy"). In the present composition, the painter also takes the side of the suffering population. A tavern is shown in which a richly dressed company is being spoilt with food and drink. It could be a family of the Spanish occupiers celebrating at the expense of the rural population. A poor man carrying a basket is expelled from the room under threat of violence. In the foreground, a begging woman kneels in front of a box filled with jewellery and money and pleads for alms.
The present painting "Peasant Sorrow" may have had a counterpart depicting the "Peasant Joy", as is the case with an almost identical version from 1609 with similar dimensions. These two panels, which were on the art market in 2005, may be the earliest version of the subject (see Klaus Ertz: David Vinckboons, Lingen 2016, nos. 160 and 161). There is another pair of paintings in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum (inv. nos. SK-A-1351 and -1352), but these have been dated to around 1619 or later on the basis of dendrological examination and were possibly painted by the artist's workshop (see Klaus Ertz, op. cit., nos. 162 and 163, here still dated around 1609 and with full attribution).
Provenance
Belgian private collection.
