Merry Company on a Terrace

Young couples dressed in the latest fashions are enjoying themselves on a palatial terrace. Delicious dishes lie ready to eat on the table – look at that peacock pie! – and the wine is chilling in a cooler. The revellers are holding hands, exchanging glances and playing footsie – the atmosphere is one of pure flirtation. But who is flirting with whom here?

Merry companies were a new subject in painting in the early seventeenth century. Willem Buytewech was one of the genre’s pioneers. He is best known for his many drawings and prints, but he also produced six paintings of young people enjoying themselves. This painting forms the highlight of this small group.

This acquisition enables the Mauritshuis to better represent the development of genre painting in the early seventeenth century. To celebrate this acquisition, we are also displaying two other early genre pieces from the collection. These can be seen to the left and right.