Gillis van Tilborgh established himself as a master in Brussels in 1654. His style and choice of subject matter related to the somewhat older master David Teniers the Younger (1610–1690), who was probably his teacher. Tilborgh was not previously represented in the Nationalmuseum collection. This painting of musicians and singers outside an inn is a typical example from this period of high-quality Flemish genre painting after 1650. It was formerly in the Imperial Russian Collection and was bought by the Swedish diplomat Vilhelm Assarsson (1889–1974), who was stationed in the Soviet Union in the 1930s and 40s.