Tavern Scene (Drinkers)

Teniers David II the Younger

(Antwerp 1610 - Brussels 1690)

The painting was acquired by Marcantonio IV Borghese in 1783 along with other Flemish works. The work, of which several versions are known, depicts the interior of a tavern with people drinking and smoking, gathered around a fire and an old man seated in the foreground, facing the observer. It is a typical example of the art of David Teniers the Younger, a specialist in genre scenes and paintings with animal subjects.

Object details

Commentary

In 1783, Prince Marcantonio IV Borghese embarked on an extensive programme of purchases of paintings by foreign artists, Flemish in particular, through the English artist Gavin Hamilton and the architect Antonio Asprucci. It was through the latter that the merchant Girolamo Rovinelli sold three paintings for 130 scudi, on 30 January of that year, including the Bambocciata by Teniers (the document in P. Della Pergola, 1959, no. 90, p. 224), an artist long recognised by scholars. However, in July 1863, the Borghese family, to be certain of the attribution, sent the panel to Brussels to be examined by Flemish painting experts. Here, the work underwent an initial conservation operation that was also useful in confirming its ascription to the Antwerp artist (P. Della Pergola, 1959, no. 104, p. 227). 

David Teniers the Younger, one of the most famous exponents of genre painting of the Flemish school, was born into a family of artists and, following the teachings of his father, David the Elder, was influenced by the work of Adam Elsheimer and Pieter Paul Rubens. He specialised in subjects with scenes of everyday life, injecting his characters with a strong dose of humour, as can be seen in the Borghese painting. Here in a tavern, a location repeatedly depicted by the artist, an old man is seated in the foreground on a simple stool. He is caught in the act of indulging in his pleasures: drinking and smoking. While attention is drawn to the large tankard he is holding, the lit pipe he has recently removed from his lips, and which still has smoke coming from it, is less noticeable. One should also note the open white cloth on the small table where a dark stain is visible: probably from the inveterate smoker's precious tobacco. Another lighted pipe is seen in the hand of one of the patrons warming themselves by the fireplace, above which is a small white sheet of paper with a sketch of a man in profile, a reference to one of the many caricatures that the artist produced – a distinctive graphic indication not just of Teniers’ activity, but also a signature. In view of all the pipes, tobacco and smoke, the subject previously entitled The Drinkers might be more aptly named Tavern Scene.

Sofia Barchiesi