Tavern Scene
by BEGA, Cornelis, Oil on canvas, 48,6 x 41,5 cm
Cornelis Bega painted this picture twenty years before the death of his master Adriaen van Ostade. His peasants are shown with more detail than those in the work of the van Ostade brothers; in this picture, for instance, they are shown stupid with liquor, bragging and flirting with the barmaid. They are painted with graphic skill but the style of painting is rather monotonous. Bega was merely a popular practitioner while the van Ostade brothers were classic interpreters of Dutch peasant genre.