Soldiers playing Dice

Michiel Sweerts was among the 17th-century Dutch and Flemish artists who lived in Rome and depicted daily life in the city. He lived there for around ten years (1646–56), during which time he produced genre compositions of the type invented by Pieter van Laer. Sweerts painted a series of canvases in which he depicted beggars, peasants and soldiers playing dice and cards, as well as more unusual sc…