The Misers,
oil on panel, 54 x 47 cm, framed

The present painting repeats a well-known composition by Marinus von Reymerswaele that became widely spread during and since the 16th century. In his choice of subject matter, Reymerswaele limited himself to a small number of iconographic themes that he repeatedly varied. Among his favourite subjects were depictions of tax collectors, racketeers, merchants, and moneychangers, all of whom can be interpreted as a criticism of greed and avarice. It can be excluded that the figures rendered in the present painting are real historical personalities; instead, they should be regarded as symbols charged with satirical meaning. 

The most prominent version of The Misers or The Two Tax Gatherers is preserved in the National Gallery in London; further variants are in the Louvre in Paris, in the Aschmann Collection in Switzerland, and in the Stibbert Museum in Florence. It is assumed that all of these versions depend on a prototype conceived by Quentin Massys. Moreover, there are strong similarities to the double portrait The Money Changer and His Wife by Massys from 1514 (Louvre, Paris). The composition may even be based on a lost original by Jan van Eyck.