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Card and Backgammon Players. Fight over Cards

Theodoor Rombouts1620-1629

SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst

SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst
Copenhagen, Danmark

In a tavern a card player has drawn a knife and is about to attack his victim, firmly grabbing his short hair. The victim, a fellow player from the other side of the table, cries out and seeks to ward off the blow with an open hand. The light falls harshly onto this brawl from the left, accentuating the drama of the tense situation. The card players, the half-figure composition, the realism, and the stark contrast between light and darkness (chiaroscuro) are all elements borrowed from the Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio, whom Rombouts got to know during a prolonged stay in Italy. By making uncontrolled anger the main subject of the painting the Flemish painter draws on an ancient Dutch tradition for creating moralising depictions of the seven deadly sins. Wrath was one of them.

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  • Title: Card and Backgammon Players. Fight over Cards
  • Creator: Theodoor Rombouts
  • Creator Lifespan: 1597 Antwerpen - 1637 Antwerpen
  • Creator Nationality: Flemish
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Creator Death Place: Antwerpen
  • Creator Birth Place: Antwerpen
  • Date Created: 1620-1629
  • Værktekst: På et værtshus har en kortspiller trukket sin kniv og skal til at gå løs på sit offer, som han holder fikseret med et fast greb i det tætte korte hår. Offeret, en medspiller på den anden side af bordet, råber og værger for sig med en løftet åben hånd. Lyset falder skarpt ind på værtshusscenen fra venstre og forstærker dramaet i den tilspidsede situation. Kortspillermotivet, halvfigurkompositionen, realismen og den kontrastfulde brug af lys-mørke (chiaroscuro) er lån fra den italienske barokmaler Caravaggio, som Theodoor Rombouts lærte at kende under et langvarigt ophold i Italien. Ved at gøre den ukontrollerede vrede til maleriets hovedærinde lægger den flamske maler sig op ad en gammel nederlandsk tradition for moraliserende billedliggørelser af de syv dødssynder. Vrede var en af dem.
  • Teknik: Olie på lærred
  • Proveniens: Erhvervet 1674-1690
  • Dansk link: http://www.smk.dk/index.php?id=2598
  • Dansk Titel: Kort- og brætspillere. Strid over et spil kort
  • Physical Dimensions: w241 x h150 cm (Without frame)
  • Provenance: Acquired 1674-1690
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: Statens Museum for Kunst, http://www.smk.dk/en/copyright/creative-commons/
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst

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