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Genre painting, Fight in an Inn, signed

Description
The sources are very scarce about Jan or Joannes Boots (possibly Boets). It may have been the man who became a free master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1625. The theme of entertainment and fights in an inn was popular in the 17th century Low Countries. In Antwerp, Adriaen Brouwer had become a master of this genre in the 1620s. The underlying meaning of this painting lies in warning against sinful and vain behaviour. Drinking and playing were seen as the seeds for quarrels. The board of the tric trac game, the playing cards and the dice lying on the floor refer to this derailment, more specifically, the loss of money and aggression. Excessive drinking was thought to stimulate sexual desire. The man who assaults the innkeeper illustrates this. The puff of smoke of a pipe has often been compared to the fleetingness of life.
Furthermore, smoking was regarded as an expression of futility and self-indulgence. It was considered one of the vices of the working class since tobacco was introduced in the Netherlands by seamen. The vertical notch with horizontal notches through it in the wooden plank in the left background is the so-called tally stick. The innkeeper kept track of how much had been bought on credit. The mischievous expressions of the figures are reminiscent of figures from former farce plays.