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Notes
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A towering rain cloud seems to threaten an early close to this game of archery. Perhaps the storm will come as a relief – although the archer takes aim with an eager eye, only one of the three arrows already shot has hit the target. The game seems almost incidental, however: Teniers is here telling a secondary tale that, on careful viewing, takes the more important role in the picture. Only the two players, the seated man and the umpire seem interested in the archery. Most of the others appear to be up to mischief. Teniers depicted peasants as caricatures repeated against unidentified, probably imaginary backgrounds. They are like the characters from the popular commedia dell’arte and often appear to be involved in a scam; here, the pompous man in the black hat seems ripe for exploitation, and a lively figure in a red hat runs between two groups of plotters.
Title
Peasants at Archery
Date
about 1645
Medium
Oil on canvas
Measurements
H 119.4 x W 289.6 cm
Accession number
NG5851
Acquisition method
Bequeathed by Mrs M.V. James, 1948
Work type
Painting
The National Gallery, London
Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England
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