The Alchemist

David Teniers the Younger, a Flemish artist, was born the son of a painter.  Not a great deal is known about his father's work, but Teniers the Younger had a prolific output.  He produced a very diverse range of painting and absorbed the influence of a wide range of fellow artists.  One of those whose influence is evident in his work was Jan Breughel, who was also Teniers'  father-in-law.   One theme which Teniers explored was that of the fantastic and the occult. The Alchemist falls into this category.   Teniers moved to Brussels in order to become court painter to Archduke Wilhelm Leopold. In this role he acted as curator of the Archduke's art treasures and to a degree an art dealer, travelling to England around 1650 to buy works of art. He produced scaled down copies of the most important works in the Archduke's collection.