The Wrath

Adriaen Brouwer (c. 1605–1638) was a Flemish painter known for his vivid and expressive genre scenes. He was born in Oudenaarde (in present-day Belgium) and worked mainly in Antwerp. Brouwer focused on everyday life, especially scenes of peasants in taverns, showing people drinking, smoking, fighting, or playing music.

His work is admired for its emotional intensity, loose brushwork, and strong sense of realism. Brouwer had a major influence on later artists, including Peter Paul Rubens and Rembrandt, who greatly respected his talent. Despite his short and difficult life, Adriaen Brouwer is considered one of the most important genre painters of the 17th century.
Adriaen Brouwer painted his series ‘The 7 Deadly Sins’ (pride, greed, lust, jealousy, gluttony, anger and sloth) around the years 1634-1637. The series seems to have been quite popular, was engraved and moreover copied by Brewer's pupil Joost Van Craesbeeck and many others (see attachments). 

Our painting has as subject “the wrath” (or anger: ‘Ira’) and seems to have been made on the same panel (same board) as 2 works from the series currently in the Mauritshuis in den Haag (pride and lust), the width is exactly the same.

Oil on panel, 23 x 19cm

Certificate Dr. Guido Jansen, January 2026