Dutch school, 17th century.

Dutch School, XVII century.
"Drunkard".
Oil on panel. Cradled.
Measurements: 35 x 27 cm; 51 x 42 cm (frame).
This oil on panel, belonging to the Dutch school of the seventeenth century, represents an interior scene with a strong narrative and costumbrista character. In a domestic space illuminated by a tenebrist light, a man, seated with a drunken attitude, tries to grab a woman to sit on his legs. The young woman, standing and holding a jug and a glass in one hand, tries to avoid him, surprised by the man's gesture. The scene, full of dynamism and gestures, is wrapped in a warm atmosphere, where the detail in the furniture, the textiles and the reflections in the ceramics demonstrate the technical mastery of the artist. This type of painting, typical of the Dutch Golden Age, combines the genre of manners with a possible moral reading.
Tavern scenes became popular during the Baroque period, with the Dutch school receiving the most critical acclaim. In this case the pictorial style of the work brings us closer to the painting of Jacob Toorenvliet (1640-1719), a renowned Dutch genre painter of the Golden Age.
Toorenvliet trained with Frans van Mieris the Elder and Matthijs Naiveu, who also studied with his father, a respected drawing teacher. Later, like his classmates, he studied with Gerrit Dou. Throughout his career, Torenvliet worked in several cities, mainly in Italy and the Netherlands. He was in Vienna in 1663, and in Rome. Torenvliet became a member of the Bentvueghels. He returned to Vienna in 1673, where he remained until 1674, and painted mainly figures on copper. He joined the Confraternity of St. Luke in Leiden, where he held various positions of responsibility between 1695 and 1712, as well as co-founding the Leiden Academy of Drawing in 1694 with Willem van Mieris and Carel de Moor. He died in Oegstgeest in 1719.