DOI chapter:
David Teniers The Younger
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62914#0292
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DAVID TENIERS.
the peculiarities of the master or school from whence it
owes its origin; these will be manifested, either in the
drawing or composition, colour or handling ; and by one
or more of these signs a connoisseur will define the
school to which a picture belongs, when he may be quite
at a loss to name the painter. The artist whose life and
works form the contents of the succeeding pages, being
a pupil of his father, naturally imitated his manner; but,
possessing a very superior genius, he gradually aban-
doned the brown and heavy tones of colour used by him,
and adopted those of a clear and silvery kind. His
handling is also infinitely more spirited and free than
that of his instructor. He could, doubtless, have in-
vented a style of his own, had he been so disposed ; but
he chose rather to improve upon the one he had attained
as he found it so well suited to express with facility
whatever he desired to represent. No painter ever
exercised the pencil with greater freedom and address-
a few hours sufficing for the production of a picture
containing several figures, perfectly formed and full of
animation. With these capabilities, aided by a lively
imagination, he was enabled to execute an incredible
number of pictures, many of which contain from twenty
to one hundred figures, and a few of his productions
have triple that number.
The subjects which he usually represented were the
familiar scenes of peasants, or artizans, recreating either
with the social pot and pipe, at a cabaret, or at their
festive and joyous meetings on a village holiday ; or in
kermiss time. His genius was not, however, confined
to these subjects—it embraced almost every branch of
the art. His conversational and musical parties, of per-
DAVID TENIERS.
the peculiarities of the master or school from whence it
owes its origin; these will be manifested, either in the
drawing or composition, colour or handling ; and by one
or more of these signs a connoisseur will define the
school to which a picture belongs, when he may be quite
at a loss to name the painter. The artist whose life and
works form the contents of the succeeding pages, being
a pupil of his father, naturally imitated his manner; but,
possessing a very superior genius, he gradually aban-
doned the brown and heavy tones of colour used by him,
and adopted those of a clear and silvery kind. His
handling is also infinitely more spirited and free than
that of his instructor. He could, doubtless, have in-
vented a style of his own, had he been so disposed ; but
he chose rather to improve upon the one he had attained
as he found it so well suited to express with facility
whatever he desired to represent. No painter ever
exercised the pencil with greater freedom and address-
a few hours sufficing for the production of a picture
containing several figures, perfectly formed and full of
animation. With these capabilities, aided by a lively
imagination, he was enabled to execute an incredible
number of pictures, many of which contain from twenty
to one hundred figures, and a few of his productions
have triple that number.
The subjects which he usually represented were the
familiar scenes of peasants, or artizans, recreating either
with the social pot and pipe, at a cabaret, or at their
festive and joyous meetings on a village holiday ; or in
kermiss time. His genius was not, however, confined
to these subjects—it embraced almost every branch of
the art. His conversational and musical parties, of per-