Studio of David Teniers the Younger, 'Peasants making Music in an Inn', about 1635

An old man playing a lute and wearing a bright blue and yellow minstrel’s outfit is the focus of this gloomy tavern scene. He hunches over in concentration as he tunes the strings, one leg propped up on a slab for support and the other stretched out, continuing the diagonal line created by the neck of the instrument. To the left, an old woman holds up sheet music, her mouth slightly open as if ready to sing.

Two books of songs – one inscribed ‘BASO’, for the bass voice part – lie on the table; it’s unclear whether the man peering over the woman’s shoulder is the bass part of the musical trio or just a curious audience. Also on the table are a jug and a single filled wine glass, perhaps a drink lined up for the lutenist. A small owl watches from a window in the unadorned wall, and while it is naturalistic enough, it is most likely a symbolic device, possibly indicating sinfulness. Another cryptic detail is the curling piece of paper tacked above the hearth, which shows a sketched portrait of a sitter whose profile is much like that of the man standing below.

This painting is possibly a work by the Flemish painter David Teniers the Younger; it is rendered in his style of the mid-1630s. However, it displays uncharacteristic weakness of handling in some areas and might be by a lesser artist working in Teniers’ studio, or perhaps a copy of a lost original by the master. The initials ‘F/DB’ appear on the reverse of the oak panel and may be those of the panel-maker François de Bout.