Pieter Jansz. Quast

Dr. Einar Perman (1893-1976), Stockholm,
by descent to the present owners

Laren, Singer Museum, Oude Tekeningen uit de Nederlanden. Verzameling Prof. E. Perman, Stockholm, 1962, cat. 88

Quast was one of the great satirists in 17th-century Dutch art, lampooning in his drawings every manner of pretension and foolishness.  He is best known for his caricatures and drawings of scenes from popular comedies and farces, but a number of those drawings also contain a strong political element, relating to the horrors of the oppressive Spanish rule over the Netherlands and the often bloody wars of independence. Here his target seems to be the pretension of the upper classes, strolling in their finery on the terrace of a country estate, along with their (fellow) peacocks.