CRAESBEECK, Josse van
(b. ca. 1605, Neerlinter, d. ca. 1661, Bruxelles)

Death is Violent and Fast

1640s
Oil on panel, 73 x 102 cm
Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp

In this and other related paintings by Van Craesbeeck after 1640 there is a certain theatricality. Compared with his earlier work, the colouring has become clearer and more descriptive and the smoky Brouwerian tonality has given way to a more uniform and brighter lighting which makes the figures look more emphatically modelled.

The painting is also known as Quarrel in a Pub.