David Teniers II was an Antwerp painter, draftsman and printmaker. Teniers came from an artistic family. He was the son of the painter David Teniers I (1587–1649), who also taught him. In 1632/3 he joined the Antwerp Guild of St Luke. On the 22 June 1637 he married Anna Brueghel, a daughter of Jan Brueghel I (1568–1625). The couple had seven children; their son, David Teniers III (1638–1685), also became an artist. In 1642 the family was recorded as living in the house De Meermine in the Lange Nieuwstraat in Antwerp. In 1644/5 Teniers became dean of the Guild.

 

Teniers maintained a good relationship with Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) and received significant commissions from notable figures, including the Ghent bishop Antonius Triest (1576–1657), Stadtholder Prince Frederick Henry of Orange (1584–1647), and Philip IV (1605–1665), King of Spain. In September of 1650, the painter moved to Brussels, where he served as court painter to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm (1614–1662), and his work was widely imitated and copied. 

 

Around 1630, Teniers produced genre scenes closely related to those of Adriaen Brouwer (1605/06–1638). These were paintings with a satirical tone, featuring characters in dark, smoky interiors. Teniers even created copies of Brouwer’s work but never matched Brouwer's sharpness in expression or composition. Between 1640 and 1650, Teniers painted open-air village fairs that were no longer as negatively charged as his earlier works. His use of color became much brighter as well. Toward the end of his career, his works displayed a clear Arcadian and idyllic quality.

 

For his patron Leopold Wilhelm, Teniers painted various relatively realistic art gallery interiors between 1651 and 1653, in his role as curator of the Archduke’s art collection. The Theatrum Pictorium, an illustrated catalogue of artworks, was the first of its kind. In this context, Teniers created small painted copies of Italian works in Leopold Wilhelm’s collection, which served as models for the etchings in the famous Theatrum Pictorium.

 

Throughout his career Teniers painted various compositions with apothecaries, alchemists and the like. The present work, a charming depiction of a young village apothecary plying his trade, is a characteristic mature work by the artist.