Beskrivning: Se även beskrivning i den engelska versionen

Catalogue raisonné: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 229: 

Technical notes: The support consists of two pieces
of a densely woven plain weave fabric that have been joined
horizontally. The upper length is 119 cm broad and the
lower one 52 cm. The sides of the painting have been
trimmed to the outer edges of the current strainer. Fragments
of the folded canvas are present on the upper and
right edge. On the left side about 0.7–0.8 cm of putty has
been attached along the edge of the lining canvas. There
are visible marks from an earlier stretcher. There are cracks
in the paint layer along the upper edge about 5 and 7 cm
from the edge on the right and c. 3,5 cm from the bottom
edge. The motif has been trimmed along all four edges, but
mostly on the left where there are no visible marks from an
earlier strainer. Cusping is faintly visible along the top,
right and lower edge. The painting has been glue-lined and
mounted on a non-original stretcher. Strips of paper cover
the tacking edges and the surface of the image by about 0.5
cm from the outside edge of the painting. The preparation
consists of white ground applied thickly and evenly with
distinctly visible broad brushstrokes, to which the paint
surface has been applied thinly. Some abrasion of outstanding
paint. A very thinly applied light brown layer is visible
and was probably an imprimatura. The paint layers have
been applied opaquely and thinly, particularly in the background
and foreground. Impasto sections form a relief in
the highlights and are very well preserved in a yellow/white
mixture on the hilt of the sword, the decoration on the
gloves, in highlights in the garments, jug, plate and the
woman’s jewellery. Highlights are also visible on the glass.
The paint application is fluent in parts with clear, distinct
brushstrokes using a great deal of paint on the brush but
with very little binder, “scumbling technique” for details
that partly cover the underlying paint layer. There are pigment
changes in places where the paint layer appears to be
brownish, for instance in the woman’s dress, which was earlier
more distinct and colourful. The nuances in the
colours of the silk fabric lining of the cloak of the man
placed to the right of the image also display pigment
changes. This applies in particular to the pink mixtures,
“couleurs changeants” and the glazes that have faded. In
the garments of the man further to the right there have
been changes in the blue pigment (probably smalt) so that
it now appears to be greyish. Generally many of the pigments
seem to have changed which makes the painting
seem pale. The painting is covered with a slightly yellowed
varnish but is in good condition. The painting underwent
conservation treatment in 1870, 1871, 1925, 1935, 1977
1994 and 2009.

Provenance: Coll. C.G. Tessin; purchased by Fredrik I
for Lovisa Ulrika 1749; Lovisa Ulrika no. 98; Government
purchase1777; Gustav III no. 73 (Maerten de Vos);
KM 1795, no. 23; KM 1816, no. 668.

Exhibited: Stockholm 1977, no 100; Stockholm 2010,
no. 107.

Bibliography: Sander I, pp. 28–29, p. 83 no. 98;
Sander II, p. 108, no 73; Göthe 1887, p. 287; Göthe
1893, pp. 345–346; Granberg 1912, p. 89, no 322;
Granberg 1930, p. 156, no 127, pp. 158–159; Granberg
1931, p. 19, no 73; Glück 1933, p. 320 (?); Paris
1977–1978; Greindl, 1944, pp. 46, 121 (?); NM Bulletin
1981, vol. 5, no 3, p. 121; NM Cat 1958, p. 218; NM Cat
1990, p. 383; Sutton 1993, p. 67; Vlieghe 1998, p. 169,
no. 236.
This monumental genre painting with a composition
that alludes to a tradition established by Caravaggio
formed part of Carl Gustaf Tessin’s extensive collection
of art before it became the property of King
Fredrik I in 1749. A less precise description of the
painting at the time of its royal acquisition in 1749 was
as follows “1 group of people playing cards”.1 Somewhat
later in 1760 it was described more imaginatively
in a way that has frequently been used since then: “A
large painting on a canvas in which King Charles II of
England is depicted playing cards with a lady as well as
the Duke of Buckingham and General Monck, behind
them stands a page and in front of the table there is a
dog, excellently portrayed by Snyder, the rest painted
by Corneille de Vos”.2 In 1887 Göthe was the first to
question this vividly detailed identification of those
portrayed in the work. Judging from the garments, the
painting by de Vos admittedly presents us with members
of the elite at cards, but they are anonymous. The
game is being played in the interior of a palace with
Corinthian pillars and artfully hung drapery. And that
the object is money is shown by the coins on the table.
We can also see that drink is being served from the
carafe of wine placed on a white cloth that has been
partly removed from the table. The viewer is drawn
directly into the game as one of the men and a woman
carefully study the hand that has been dealt. The gentlemen
on the right with their ostentatious, broadbrimmed
hats are waiting attentively for the couple to
make their bid. We can see that they have already won
a considerable amount from the coins on the table
next to them. A dog in the foreground sniffs the air,
scenting mischief. Playing for money was considered
reprehensible when this work was painted. Extravagance
and avarice were vices against which the viewer
should be warned. Card games were considered a
fruitless waste of time and therefore also considered
reprehensible.
In the inventory of the estate of Gustav III on his
death in 1792 the previous attribution to Cornelis de
Vos has been changed to Maerten de Vos.3 In a letter
from Gerson-Gudlaugsson dated 9 June 1956 Simon
de Vos is identified as the probable painter and two
years later this was adopted in the catalogue of its
holdings of early European painting published by the
Nationalmuseum in 1958.4 In earlier texts there are
references to the collaboration of Frans Snyders and
Paul de Vos on the portrayal of the dog.
An engraving by Alexander Voet from 1632 based
on Cornelis de Vos’s painting of a game of cards contradicts,
however, earlier attributions to Maerten or
Simon de Vos.5 That it is the work of Cornelis de Vos
can be seen from an inscription on Voet’s engraving,
however, reversed in comparison to the painting in the
Nationalmuseum but certain details match those in its
motif. Below the motif in the engraving the following
verse has been inscribed:
Prodigue meurtrier de ton bien,
Actif à changer tout et rien,
Tu n’as de forcer ton courage.
Le jeu, la femme avec le vin
Te monstrent le plus court chemin
Pour voir la fin de ton ouvrage.
The title of the engraving is The Game of Cards or The
Prodigal Son Feasting with Harlots, which suggests the
kind of moralistic content that was common at the
time of its production in connection with card games
and other futile pastimes. The Nationalmuseum’s
painting is also referred to more recently in Sutton
1993 as an original by Cornelis de Vos following in the
tradition of Caravaggio and as an example of one of
the few surviving genre paintings by the history
painter and portraitist de Vos. This is also true of
Vlieghe 1998, which also links it to the Caravaggio
tradition and to the social themes used as genre motifs
by Cornelis de Vos in the late 1620s. Two of these
works depict card games, one a monumental genre
painting entitled Partie de tric-trac (Backgammon) that
belongs to the collections in Abbeville (140 x 180 cm)
(Fig. 1) and one that also contains a group of people
and which belongs to the collections of the Musée de
Picardie, Amiens (Fig. 2). A painting based on Alexander
Voet’s engraving sold at an auction in 1972 has
been considered an inverted copy of Cornelis de Vos’s
painting in the Nationalmuseum. As pointed out
above, the Nationalmuseum’s work is reversed in relation
to Voet’s engraving. Whether there were any
other versions of this motif by de Vos on which the
engraving could have been based is, however, not
known. The painting in the Nationalmuseum has
been trimmed and lined. There are a number of pigment
changes that make the painting look somewhat
pale. This applies, for instance, to the silk cloak worn
by the man on the right where the original blue has
turned into a more greyish shade. The portrayal is also
rather uneven in character from a technical point of
view, which may mean that a collaborator also worked
on the painting together with Cornelis de Vos.
KS
1 See 1749 bought from Carl Gustaf Tessin by Fredrik I for Lovisa Ulrika,
fört., fol. 253r, no 127.
2 1760 Lovisa Ulrika, no 98.
3 ”Carl d.I. Stuart, Dess drottning med flere, af Martin de Vos; 2 aln. 22
tu1/2 tum hög, 3 aln. 19 tum bred”, estate inventory deed 1792, no 73.
4 Gerson-Gudlaugsson in a letter to the Nationalmuseum, 9 June 1956,
NM curatorial files.
5 On the engraving to the left is the inscription ”Cornelis de Vos Pinxit”
and to the right, ”Alexander Voet sculpsit et excud. Ao. 1632”. The
engraving measures 34.3 x 42 cm.[End]

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Foto: Erik Cornelius / Nationalmuseum 2009