TENIERS, David the Younger
(b. 1610, Antwerpen, d. 1690, Bruxelles)

The Gallery of Archduke Leopold in Brussels

1641
Oil on canvas, 96 x 128 cm
Staatsgalerie, Schleissheim

The present interior scene belongs to a genre developed in the 1610s in Antwerp by Frans Francken II and Jan Brueghel the Elder. By the middle of the century, David Teniers took up the subject at the request of Archduke Leopold-Wilhelm von Habsburg who wanted to record his very rich collection of paintings. In this way, he contributed to the spread of the genre outside of the city when he left for Brussels.