On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P01815
- Author
- Teniers, David (Flemish)
- Title
- Villagers conversing
- Chronology
- 1640-1650
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 41 cm x 63 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- COLECCION REAL
- Procedence
- Royal Collection
Some villagers converse while going
about their peasant tasks.
This work is one of the rural
scenes showing everyday life in the
Flemish countryside, of which
Teniers made many, especially
during the sixteen forties, when he
gradually abandoned the indoor
scenes that had also made him
famous.
The presence of a block in the
foreground —in this case, a house—
and a perspective of the landscape
in the background on one side of
the painting, are customary in this
sort of paintings.
The warm evening light that
illuminates the background is
singular and is not present in
other works of his, but the figures
of the peasants are repetitions of
models he used in many other
paintings. Especially significant
is the figure shelling mussels, a
traditional foodstuff in the Low
Countries.
This work was first listed at
Madrid's Alcázar Palace in 1700.
Location on the map
