Cottage with Peasants playing Cards 

David Teniers the Younger painted this scene of peasants playing cards outside a cottage in the 17th century. The image shows peasants gathered in leisure activity, located outside a modest country dwelling. Teniers was from Antwerp, a city in the Flemish region of present-day Belgium, and the image reflects the strong and enduring interest in peasant life that characterized the art market of his time. These images were made in the context of a highly stratified society, one in which rural labor underpinned a wealthy urban culture. The image is a romanticized and, perhaps, patronizing view of rural life. It doesn't directly critique the social order, but neither does it glorify the elite. As historians, we try to discover the values and beliefs that give meaning to the art of the past, using resources such as archival documents and literary sources. Art always gains its significance from the social and institutional context in which it is made and viewed.