More about The Last Drop (The Gay Cavalier)

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Judith Leyster’s The Last Drop (The Gay Cavalier) shows what happens when the booze runs out at the end of the night.

It’s the 1600s and the evening before the start of Lent, so naturally there’s only one thing to do: engage in a debaucherous night of partying. In The Netherlands, this binge night is known as vastenavond, and like Mardi Gras beads in New Orleans, the standing boy’s get-up is a giveaway that Leyster’s painting takes place during Dutch Carnival.

The daughter of a brewer, Leyster often captured party goers and the tavern scene in her genre paintings, which were all the rage in 17th century Dutch life. But in this particular painting, Leyster decided to do some moralizing as well by including a skeleton lurking in the background because YOLO. I mean, what’s a bigger buzzkill than a skeleton holding a skull in one hand and a diminishing hourglass in the other?

But this moral message didn’t please everyone. Likely fearing that people wouldn’t be interested in buying such a depressing scene (let us drink in peace!), at some point an art dealer had the skeleton painted over, turning it into a table with a candle on it. Tipped off by an art historian as to the true nature of the painting, it wasn’t until the ‘90s that the Philadelphia Museum of Art did some snazzy investigative work (ie: x-rays and microscopic cleaning tests) to uncover the concealed skeleton. It then took several years to restore the bony figure to its original, morbid glory.

The Last Drop might also be the “after” to the “before” depicted in Leyster’s The Merry Trio, which shows three costumed bros at what appears to be the start of a party. The cups are full, the room well-lit, and everybody looks just a tad bit tipsy. Fast forward several hours and you get the dimly lit drunken scene in The Last Drop. Both pieces are the same size and were documented together as part of of a British art dealer’s collection in the 1900s. Moral of the story? The next time you get drunk at a party make sure you keep one eye over your shoulder for any skeletons that might be creeping in the corner.

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Here is what Wikipedia says about The Last Drop (Leyster)

The Last Drop is a c. 1629 oil painting by Judith Leyster in the John G. Johnson collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was regarded as a work by Frans Hals until 1903, when it was noticed that it is signed 'JL*' on the tankard.

Check out the full Wikipedia article about The Last Drop (Leyster)

Comments (2)

Lorna Wright

So interesting! I love that the skeleton is holding another skull, too, as if the memento mori message wasn't clear enough with just one skeleton. Maybe these guys are just too drunk to take a hint.

thinkstuff101

Props to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for digging up the skeleton :)