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The Interior of a Picture Gallery

Maker

(Artists)
1581-1642

(Artists)
1610-1690

Title

Date of Production

c. 1640

Medium

oil on panel

Dimensions

Height: 58.5 cm (Panel)
Width: 79 cm (Panel)

Accession Number

P.1978.PG.137

Mode of Acquisition

Count Antoine Seilern, bequest, 1978

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

On display

Keywords

Label Text

Depictions of picture galleries were common in the 17th century. Wealthy merchants, bankers and artists assembled impressive collections, which were no longer the sole privilege of aristocrats. This representation is unusual for the scene on the left featuring men wearing donkey heads and destroying works of art. This symbolises ignorance, in contrast to the enlightenment offered by the appreciation of art in picture galleries. Left unfinished by the Antwerp-based painter Frans Francken, it was completed by David Teniers, who added the three figures and three canvases in the foreground.

Provenance

Sale, F Muller, Amsterdam, 1926; sale Lepke Berlin, 24 May 1027 (lot 147); Prof. Schindler, Vienna; from whom acquired in 1934 by Count Antoine Seilern; Princes Gate Bequest 1978.

Exhibition History

David Teniers and the Theatre of Painting, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 19/10/2006-21/01/2007

Literature

J. Briels, 'De Antwerpse kunstverzamelaar Peeter Stevens (1590-1668) en zijn Constkamer', in: Jaarboek Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, 1980, pp. 137-226.
p. 166
Fig. p. p. 165, afb. 14

Inscriptions

Inscription: inscription : signed : lower right & recto : : D.Teniers

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