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David Tenier Research Paper

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Flemish artist, David Teniers– David Teniers II or David Teniers the younger– was one of the most famous and prominent artist of peasant life in the 17th century. He was born in Antwerp and his works were influenced by his father, David Teniers the Elder, and his father-in-law, Jan Brueghel. In 1632, Teniers became a master of a guild in St. Luke. He was later chosen to preside over the same guild in St. Luke in 1644 (“David Teniers the Younger”). Teniers achieved noble status in 1663 and also successfully lobbied for the establishment of an art school in his city (Van Vlieghe). Teniers is believed to have over 2,000 paintings. One of those paintings is called Winter Scene with a Man Killing a Pig circa 1650. The medium is oil on canvas, with …show more content…

Teniers flourished during the Dutch Golden Age, which was a period that roughly spanned the 17th century. This particular piece of art by David Teniers as well as most of his other artworks can be described as a genre painting. Genre paintings are artworks that depict ordinary life (“Genre Painting”). Genre art depict everyday scenes, such as that of Winter Scene with a Man Killing a Pig. It shows the motions of everyday life: market settings, domestic settings, party scenes, streets, inns, etc.; all that is associated with the “peasant life.” In this particular painting, it tells the story of a winter day in a peasant village where a ritual of life and death is occurring. There’s also another interesting aspect to the painting. The row of houses as well as the people are painted in warm earthy colors, which juxtaposes the cool silvery tones of the rest of the painting (“Winter Scene with a Man Killing a Pig”). By doing this, the viewer’s eyes immediately look at the row of houses, then to the family, slaughtering the pig, which is the story of the painting, the main focus. Also, eating pig for Christmas dinner was customary in medieval

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