Marinus van Reymerswaele - Two Tax Gatherers [c.1540]
The man on the left is writing out a list of taxes on items such as wine, beer and fish, which have been farmed out to private individuals to collect, as was common in this period. It is one of the numerous versions of this composition, probably painted as a satire on covetousness, which evidently found a ready market in second quarter of the 16th century.
Marinus van Reymerswaele (active 1535–1545) is known mainly for his satirical paintings. The son of a painter, who was recorded in Antwerp in 1475, Marinus is thought to have been trained by a glass painter there in 1509. There are signed paintings by him from 1538 to 1547, but little is known of his life. His banishment from Middleburgh in 1567 is apparently the last known record of him.
[Oil on oak, 92.1 x 74.3 cm]