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Theodor Rombouts was the primary exponent of Flemish Caravaggism, a brief but important artistic phenomenon that peaked in the 1620s. He is best known for his large-scale secular works depicting merry companies, music scenes and card-playing characters in compact compositions. His half-length figures, firmly modelled and always lively, wear theatrical costumes and are set in chiaroscuro lighting typical of the Flemish Caravaggisti, also known as the Antwerp Tenebrosi.
The present work, Card Players in an Interior, is one of the most representative works of Rombouts's Caravaggesque genre scenes. Recalling Manfredi's merry company pictures, there is a marked sense of monumentality to the five figures that are arranged around a carpeted table, engaged in a game of cards. The individuals are realistic and expressive; the scene appears convincingly spontaneous and natural. Rombouts introduces repoussoir figures that confront the viewer and direct attention to the central bearded figure who stares down at his hand of cards, presumably a self-portrait. Rombouts also included a portrait of his wife, Anna, in the hatted figure seated beside him. The inclusion of self-portraits and portraits of family members was not unusual in Dutch and Flemish genre painting, despite the potentially negative associations of moralising subjects.
Portraits of Rombouts, his wife and even his young daughter can be seen in another of his works, The Backgammon Players, at the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, in which the lavishly dressed soldier bears the artist's likeness.
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