David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690), the Flemish painter and engraver, was a master of genre subjects and the most distinguished member of a large family of painters.
He studied with his father, David Teniers the Elder, and his early works, such as “The Five Senses” (1635; Musee des Beaux-Arts, Brussels), owe much to Frans Francken II and Jan Breughel the Elder, whose daughter he married in 1637.
Until 1638, however, he was principally influenced by the sometimes violent peasant scenes of Adriaen Brouwer - as in “The Barn” (1634; Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, Germany) - and maintained a close connection with Dutch art.
Teniers's genre scenes are usually more detached and genteel, with a greater refinement and delicacy of color. He was skilled at the depiction of everyday rural events, as in “Village Fete” (1646; Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia), but he also painted religious and mythological subjects.
About 1651, Teniers moved to Brussels, where he served as court painter, tapestry designer, curator of paintings, and gentleman-in-waiting to Archduke Leopold William and his successors. His multiple careers brought him wealth and eventually a patent of nobility.