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Cardsharps

ca. 1614–15
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
A young dandy is taken in by street-smart cardsharps, each based on a real person playing his part impeccably in this moralizing comedy. The lesson to be drawn from the story is as obvious as the characterization of each figure is memorable. Note the caped villain. His cross-eyes were thought to be emblematic of depravity. Such scenes were also popular in street theater, where in 1632 a French visitor commented that "there are no people in the world who are better mimes and more histrionic than Italians."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Cardsharps
  • Artist: Valentin de Boulogne (French, Coulommiers-en-Brie 1591–1632 Rome)
  • Date: ca. 1614–15
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 37 3/16 × 53 15/16 in. (94.5 × 137 cm)
    Frame: 46 1/16 × 62 5/8 × 3 15/16 in. (117 × 159 × 10 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings