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Ostade was influenced by Adriaen Brouwer and Rembrandt. He painted mainly realistic genre pictures from the life of peasants. The subject of alchemists was frequently depicted in the 17th century usually with satiric treatment.
The dilapidated state of the interior is presumably the consequence of the alchemist's foolish business venture. Such insolvency was satirized vigorously in the Dutch Republic, dependent as the state was on the financial responsibility and high productivity of a broad middle class.
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