Adriaen van de Venne (Delft 1589-1662 The Hague)

The pendant to the present painting, A dancing couple with a flute player and other figures making merry (present location unknown, formerly offered with Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 14 November 2006, lot 80), is also inscribed with the text Dartel Arm, which is a wordplay. The word dartel can mean 'jumping' as well as 'foolish', and thus can be applied in different scenes, as is done in this picture and its pendant.