CHEATING GAMBLERS in ART

Long before Maskelyne's time, several painters have captured crooked gambling scenes with their paintbrushes. The first painting of this kind is Caravaggio's The Cardsharps, which was also the painting that inspired several other artists to follow with their own gambling scenes.

There are other paintings of this kind in existance, but here we only included the most important masterpieces. More paintings can be found on the Art History of Cheating page at CARDSHARK Online.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573 - 1610)

The Cardsharps - c. 1596

Oil on canvas, 90 x 112 cm
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX, USA

Georges de La Tour: The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds

Georges de La Tour (1593 - 1652)

The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds - 1635-40

Valentin de Boulogne (1594 - 1632)

Cardsharpers - 1615-18

Oil on canvas, 94,5 x 137 cm
©Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, Germany/ ©Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden/The Bridgeman Art Library

Valentin de Boulogne: Soldiers Playing Cards and Dice

Valentin de Boulogne (1594 - 1632)

Soldiers Playing Cards and Dice (The Cheats) - c. 1620/1622

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA