Card Players in an Interior

Private collection

genre

Theodor Rombouts was the primary exponent of Flemish Caravaggism, a brief but important artistic phenomenon that peaked in the 1620s. He is best known for his large-scale secular works depicting merry companies, music scenes and card-playing characters in compact compositions. His half-length figures, firmly modelled and always lively, wear theatrical costumes and are set in chiaroscuro lighting typical of the Flemish Caravaggisti, also known as the Antwerp Tenebrosi.

About the Artist

Theodor Rombouts

1597 – 1637

Flemish painter, mainly of religious and genre scenes. In his native Antwerp he was a pupil of Janssens, an Italianate painter of merit, then from about 1616 to about 1625 he was in Italy. There his work became strongly Caravaggesque and he established himself as one of the leading Flemish exponents of the style. Later, he fell under the all-pervasive influence of Rubens and his work became much lighter in tonality.

View all works →