This work by Duck, an artist best known for his images of guardrooms and brothels, is a "merry company" painting showing young people amusing themselves in fancy dress. The sensuous life-reflected in indications of music making, eating, and drinking as well as in the cloak, sword, and spurs of the soldier-is the ostensible subject of many "merry company" paintings. A document of 1636 refers to Duck's paintings as "moderne beeldekens" (modern paintings with contemporary figures). The elegance of the figures and the quiet mood emphasize ideas about respectability and upper-bourgeois manners. Typical of Duck's work is the recycling of individuals, groups of figures, accessories, and still -life details, suggesting that he kept a stock of props in his studio and also worked from a repertoire of drawings.

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