Attributed to Theodor Rombouts

Utrecht School of the 17th century. Attributed to THEODOR ROMBOUTS (Antwerp, 1597-1637).
"Young pipe smoker".
Oil on canvas. Relined in the 19th century. 19th century stretcher frame.
Measurements: 112 x 82 cm; 133 x 102,4 cm (frame).

This painting takes up one of the characteristic themes of the Utrecht Caravaggists, whose success in the Dutch market of the 17th century was based on intensely illuminated genre scenes with a strong dramatic presence, such as the one we are now bidding for. The following of the Caravaggist style and the chosen subject (a pipe smoker) captured half-length and close-up, very close to the viewer, with a robust body and solid, almost sculptural pose, allow us to link the work to the hand of Theodor Rombouts, who specialized in the realization of musicians, card players, gamblers, drinkers and tavern scenes.

Theodor Rombouts was a Flemish Baroque painter and one of the main representatives of Caravaggism in Flanders; after training in Antwerp he traveled to Italy, where he assimilated the direct influence of Caravaggio, especially the dramatic use of chiaroscuro and the composition close to the viewer, and upon his return he specialized in genre scenes -musicians, gamblers and tavern scenes- characterized by monumental figures, great expressiveness and a marked theatrical sense, as well as some religious works; despite a brief career due to his premature death, his work played a key role in the introduction of Caravaggist naturalism in 17th century Flemish painting.

The use of chiaroscuro, the closeness of the figure to the viewer and the attention to materiality - visible in the carefully modeled skin with the bare left shoulder, treated with special anatomical rigor, in the feathered hat, the ceramic jugs or in the direct and stark gaze - are characteristic features of this artistic context, in which scenes of smokers, musicians or gamblers achieved remarkable popularity both for their visual impact and for their moral dimension, linked to ephemeral pleasures.

The subject, the composition and the treatment of light link this work to the production of the Utrecht School, one of the most valued within the Nordic caravaggism for the quality and expressiveness of its figures.