Card Players
by ROMBOUTS, Theodor, Oil on canvas, 168 x 236 cm
Card playing was perceived as a time-waster at best and, at worst, was associated with any number of disreputable behaviours. Though no alcohol is depicted, coins are strewn about the table: a reference to the ‘unwholesome’ activity of gambling.
This painting was transferred to Nazi Germany in 1944 and restituted by the Soviet Union in 1956.