(Mechelen 1576–1632 Amsterdam)
Peasants expelling Spanish soldiers from their house (The Peasant’s Joy),
monogrammed upper right: DVB,
oil on panel, 27 x 43 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Belgium

We are grateful to Klaus Ertz for confirming the attribution of the present painting. A written certificate is available (August 2017). Ertz dates the painting to the period around 1609, when it was executed in Amsterdam.

Ertz writes: “The painting is of good quality. The central theme in question, which had already been dealt with in the 1570s by Marten van Cleve, was the sorrow of peasants, who where tormented and also killed by Spanish soldiers. In the composition to be assessed, the painter sides with the peasants, who have decided to strike back (Peasant’s Joy). While the artist has set the theme of the ‘Peasants’ Sorrow’ (peasants beaten up by soldiers) in rustic interiors, in all of the variations of the ‘Peasants’ Joy’ (peasants expelling soldiers from their houses) the scene shown takes place outdoors.”

A smaller version of this composition, dated 1609, has been with Salomon Lilian, Amsterdam (2005, see K. Ertz, C. Nitze-Ertz, David Vinckboons, Lingen 2016, p. 395, no. 161). Another version (circa 1609) is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (K. Ertz, op. cit., p. 396, no. 163).