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

Smoking Peasants at an Inn

1644
Oil on canvas
Wrotham Park, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire

In the 1640s, in Teniers's many interior pictures, which in their arrangement still go back to Brouwer, the smoky and monochrome tonality of the 1630s has given way to a clearer, silvery atmosphere in which bright colour accents catch the eye. The depiction of the utensils grouped in the foreground has a still-life quality. In these surroundings humble characters sit quietly with a drink or playing cards. The Smoking Peasants at an Inn is a fine example.