The King Drinks
17th century
David Teniers the Younger captures the chaotic joy of a 17th-century tavern celebration in this lively sketch. The scene depicts the traditional 'Feast of the Epiphany,' where a bean hidden in a cake crowns a lucky peasant as the 'King' for the night—here, a man stands triumphantly on a bench while his friends cheer and drink around him. Teniers was famous for these bustling peasant scenes, and you can even spot a quieter group warming themselves by the fire in the background, completely ignoring the party. It's a perfect snapshot of Baroque-era revelry, showing that people have been loving a good excuse to party for centuries.
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