(The Hague, active 1615–1647)
The Drunken Silenus with the Phrygian Peasants,
signed and dated lower centre: MvW.../Fe/16,
oil on panel, 55 x 71 cm, framed

Provenance:
Efim Schapiro Collection (1899–1977), London;
sale, Christie’s London, 30 March 1979, lot 24;
Private collection, United Kingdom

Literature:
U. Weisner, Die Gemälde des Moyses van Uyttenbroek, in: Oud Holland, 79, 1964, p. 222, no. 34, fig. 6

Moyses van Uyttenbroek was born in The Hague not long before 1600, where he joined the Guild of St. Luke in 1620. There is no documentary evidence proving that Uyttenbroek visited Italy, however, the works of Adam Elsheimer and the Italianate landscape painters van Poelenburgh and Breenbergh clearly had a strong influence on his work. Like these artists, van Uyttenbroek had a tendency to paint mythological subjects set within imaginary landscapes. He also painted Old Testament subjects and portraits and assisted in the decorations of Honselaarsdijk, which was the hunting castle of Prince Frederik Hendrick of Orange.

The present work betrays the highly personal figure style typical of Van Uyttenbroek’s works from his early and middle periods. This specific style featured strong, clumsy figures with bulging forms and broad, round heads often looking out of the picture towards the viewer.