大衛‧特尼爾斯二世（David Teniers the Younger, 1610-1690）年輕時已是安特衛普具領導地位的畫家，其作品題材多元，數量驚人，而風俗畫尤其是安特衛普畫商競相訂購的類型。享有盛名的特尼爾斯二世日後被網羅至奧地利大公爵里奧波德‧威廉（Archduke Leopold William, 1614-1662）麾下工作，並在1651年成為其宮廷畫家。

本幅作品屬於特尼爾斯二世最具代表性的農夫風俗畫（peasant scenes）。前景左上方落入室內的光線恰將左半部與吃食相關的元素凸顯出來，諸如長凳上的乳酪、後方的烤窯、椅面上的豬頭與酒杯、以及吊掛起的巨大豬隻；仍在滴落的血水暗示著剛結束的宰殺行動，也預示了稍後製作血腸的食材。相對於巨大的豬身，前景的孩童尤其顯得嬌小。男童們正聳肩鼓頰透過吹管往豬膀胱吹氣，以便做球玩耍；兩位女孩則牽手靜候。光線的由強而弱引領觀者視線從前景左方往右移動，而後順延孩童左低右高的排列斜向穿過隱沒昏暗的中景，直接引導至右後方因大門上方小窗與爐灶火光而再度明亮起來的背景。正邁出門的老婦、拿著酒杯放鬆片刻的男子，與彎腰煮食的少婦，他們透過眼神的互動而透露出日常暇意輕鬆的氣氛。畫面統一的黃褐色系營造出簡樸溫和的基調，而穿插其中的紅、白與藍則為畫面添加一份生動活潑。

畫中光線聚焦下的巨大豬隻是十七世紀尼德蘭農民風俗畫中的常見母題，它不僅暗示著豐饒的農村生活，同時在圖像傳統中常含有耶穌十架受難，或警惕「放縱肉慾」的宗教道德意涵。而充氣的豬膀胱不僅在西方是兒童的玩具，同時亦因諺語homo bulla──意即「人如氣泡」而有人生短暫虛空之意。這些同時具有農民風情與道德寓意的元素讓畫面意涵顯得豐富而令人玩味。(于禮本)

The development of genuine genre paintings began in the 16th century and ripened into maturity in the 17th century. The Netherlands and Flanders (now north Belgium) of the 17th century bequeathed a brilliant chapter to the development and the production of genre paintings in the history of art.

This piece is one of the representative works of genre paintings collected by the Chimei Museum. David Teniers the Younger was already a leading artist in Antwerp in his early years. He was productive and his subject matters of works varied; his genre paintings were the ones that art dealers in Antwerp competed to purchase. This painting is one of his typical works of peasant scenes.

In the foreground, the light coming from the upper left falls on a huge boar, a theme that is frequently seen in 17th-century Dutch genre paintings. It implies not only the affluent village life, but the way the dissected boar is hung high on the rack is simultaneously a religious allegory for Christ’s sufferings on the cross, as well as a moral warning against lust or gluttony. A child in the foreground blows up the bladder of the boar, a conventional children’s diversion on European farms. Reminiscent of a Latin saying, homo bulla—'man is a bubble', the inflated bladder refers to the transience and void of human life. With themes that cover peasant scenes and allegorical meanings, the painting is rich in imagery and is worth contemplating. ( Li Pen YU)