David Teniers the Younger

With P. Rosenthal, Berlin, by 1929.

The actual painting is a lot less red and softer in tone than the catalogue illustration suggests. The single panel is flat and stable and lightly bevelled to all sides. The paint surface is under a very thick and dirty layer of varnish. The fine and dense craquelure pattern is beginning to lift in some areas, and there are a few tiny scattered retouched paint losses, e.g. in the barrel lower left, in the background upper left. Some minor retouchings can be observed in the green dress of the elderly lady, in the green coat of the figure in the background, in the background centre left. Inspection under Ultra-Violet light is inconclusive due to the thick layer of varnish. Offered in a decorative gilt plaster and wood frame, with paint losses. (MW)
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

David Teniers treated the theme of 'unequal love' as early as 1634.¹ Throughout his career, Teniers exploited the theme in different compositions, sometimes as a part of a larger scene of an inn or barn or, as in this painting, in a close-up view.²  Typically, the amorous affair between an old man and a young woman was depicted, but the artist chose to represent here a younger man courting an old woman. The moralizing message of the theme was that a relationship between a man and a woman of very different age was based on monetary profit, and not the result of mutual love, and therefore ill-assorted couples did not have a future.
Although the underlying message must have been well-understood by a 17th Century audience, Teniers omits references to any moral judgement, such as a spouse commenting on the scene from the background. The inverted representation of the theme may indicate that it was originally paired with another work, depicting the more traditional scene of an old man seducing a young girl. A possible candidate is A Man with a beer jug and a young woman in an inn, in the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, (inv. no. 1904).³ This painting is almost identical in size and shares the same concept of space in which the figures are similarly placed. Furthermore, both paintings can be dated to the end of the 1660s when Teniers worked at the court of the Spanish Netherlands in Brussels. Both pictures show in their composition a dependence on work of Teniers' early Antwerp style, although the reddish-brown tone and the less articulate execution correspond with the artist's later work from his Brussels period.


We are grateful to Frau Dr. Margaret Klinge for confirming the attribution based on first hand inspection and for dating this painting at the end of the 1660s or beginning of the 1670s. Her written certificate, dated 26 September 2008, accompanies this lot.

1. M. Klinge and D. Lüdke, David Teniers der Jüngere (1610-1690). Alltag und Vergnügen in Flandern, exhibition catalogue, Karlsruhe 2005, p. 98, cat. no. 5, reproduced.
2. See also his Old Man and a Young Girl in a private collection, Madrid. For this painting see M. Klinge, David Teniers the Younger. Paintings. Drawings, exhibition catalogue, Antwerp 1991, p. 54, cat. no. 12, reproduced p. 55. For other works depicting the theme of unequal love, see Klinge and Lüdke, op. cit., note 1, cat. no. 31, p. 154, note 4.
3. op. cit., note 1, p. 304, cat. no. 99.