Exterior of an inn

Jan Victors was probably active in Rembrandt's studio in Amsterdam between 1630 and1640.  Later he became independent and focused more on genre paintings, instead on paintings with a religious or mythological theme. Victors traveled several times on ships that sailed for the VOC and had the East Indies as their destination, on a ship called 'Rammekens' he diseased in 1676.
Our work depicts a genre scene and can be dated around 1650: an inn was often also a place where travelers could rest and the horses could be cared for and refreshed. In our painting, Jan Victors uses this scene as an alibi in which young couples seduce and court each other. Only the smiling servant with the bucket and the girl on the right look us straight in the eye and seem to know what is going on. The colors are rich and cheerful, the touch very smooth with a lot of sense for details. There is a proud signature on the wooden bench.

Signed on the wooden bench: Johanes Victors fc
Oil on Canvas, 78 x 92 cm (30 ³/₄ x 36 ¹/₄ inches)

Provenance: Max Wassermann, Paris, 1967; His Sale, Glliera Parijs, 26 november 1967, lot 41; A Swedish private collection.