The Page in the Guardroom. Workshop of David Teniers le Jeune (1610 - 1690)

Oil on oak panel. 17th-century Flemish school, workshop of David Teniers the Younger.
In the hushed atmosphere of a guardhouse or tavern, our young page, straight out of David Teniers' world and recognizable among a thousand other figures, is putting away the harness and armor of the soldiers he serves. This subject, often treated by Teniers (Corps de garde, 1642, at the Hermitage Museum, Le Page dans la salle de garde, c. 1640, at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, and Corps de garde at London's Dulwich Picture Gallery), poetically illustrates the harsh conditions of men during the Golden Age. Rather than illustrate their feats of arms, he chose to paint their attributes in a peaceful interior. Thus, breastplates, gorgerins, gauntlets and a feathered helmet accumulate alongside a saddle of arms and a bit, knights having probably kept their weapons close to them.
By reproducing the paintings of the greatest Flemish artists in his youth, Teniers acquired great skill and assimilated the best technical processes. He thus mastered the art of glazing, and our composition is a perfect illustration of this. In a monochrome of brown, ochre and grey, a scene in which darkness is disturbed by a few inlets of light offers itself to our gaze.

We have chosen to present this painting in a blackened wood frame with an upside-down profile.
Dimensions: 37 x 31 cm - 53 x 48 cm with frame

Biography: David II Teniers dit le Jeune (Antwerp 1610 - Brussels 1690) was the son of David I Teniers le Vieux, painter and friend of Peter Paul Rubens. The eldest of six siblings, he began painting at an early age in his father's studio. His brothers Julien, Theodore and Abraham followed in his footsteps. For a time, the young David ventured to copy the greatest Flemish and Italian masters, which happily added to his knowledge. He developed a great facility for composition, assimilating the best technical processes and acquiring a speed of execution that has become legendary. A master of genre scenes set in thatched cottages or inns, he painted a multitude of drinking and smoking scenes, lousy conversations and gallant ventures. His first marriage to Anne Brueghel, daughter of Jan Brueghel de Velours, earned him great respect and made him a notable figure in the city of Antwerp. Following the example of Antwerp's wealthy bourgeoisie, he rented a rural manor house in Perck: Dry Toren (three towers in French), whose silhouette he never tired of painting in the background of his paintings, and where he liked to play the lord. Confident of his talent, legend has it that he might have uttered the words: "I get my genius from nature, my taste from my father, and my perfection from Rubens".

Bibliography:
- Vermoelen, (Maria Huibert) John, Notes historiques sur David Teniers et sa famille, Belleuvre et Dolbeau, 1870
- Peyre, Roger, David Teniers, biographie critique, 1913
- Bocquet, Léon, David Teniers, Editions Nilsson, 1924
- Klinge margret, Waterfield Giles, Methuen-Campbell James, David Teniers and the Theatre of Painting, exhibition catalog Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, 2006