The Interior of a Picture Gallery

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.