Oil on canvas. Framed measurements: 93 x 77 cm, canvas measurements: 64 x 43. This painting belongs to a group of works that represent characters playing board games, a favorite theme during the first half of the 17th century. This genre of painting became popular following innovative compositions such as Caravaggio s The Card Players (Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, inv. no. AP 1987.06) or the works of Bartolomeo Manfredi, whose works also popularized this theme ( see for example the Soldiers playing cards, Uffizi, Florence, inv. No. 6609). From the beginning of the second decade of the 17th century this genre enjoyed great popularity. Before the introduction of representations on the subject made by Caravaggio with a simple decorative purpose, the theme of the card players had only a connotation of moral condemnation, as a warning against vice. Since the Middle Ages, the church had condemned games of chance, and especially those of risk and chance, due to the dangers they generated to waste money. During the seventeenth century, however, the representation of games, as illustrated by the present painting, no longer serves as a warning, but rather as a description of everyday life, as well as a representation of social interaction, particularly between women. social classes. Reference Bibliography: Langdon, Helen (1998). Caravaggio, p. 118. Edhasa. ISBN 84-350-2647-7. as the present painting illustrates, it no longer serves as a warning, but rather as a description of everyday life, as well as a representation of social interaction, particularly between social classes. Reference Bibliography: Langdon, Helen (1998). Caravaggio, p. 118. Edhasa. ISBN 84-350-2647-7. as the present painting illustrates, it no longer serves as a warning, but rather as a description of everyday life, as well as a representation of social interaction, particularly between social classes. Reference Bibliography: Langdon, Helen (1998). Caravaggio, p. 118. Edhasa. ISBN 84-350-2647-7.