Young man encouraging a girl to smoke and drink

Young Man Encouraging a Girl to Smoke and Drink from around 1700, attributed to Judith Leyster, depicts a scene of youthful temptation. The subject of a man offering a woman tobacco and drink was a common Dutch genre theme combining humor with moral commentary on the dangers of sensual indulgence and male importunity. The early eighteenth-century date places this work well after Leyster's death in 1660, suggesting either a late attribution or a work from her circle. The subject matter—tobacco, alcohol, and flirtatious interaction between young people—connects to the moralizing genre tradition that ran through Dutch painting from the early seventeenth century onward. The bold, direct characterization of the figures reflects the confidence of the Haarlem genre tradition Leyster helped to establish, even as this late work extends beyond her documented career.

The intimate scene captures the interaction between the two figures with genre specificity, rendered in the bold Haarlem manner associated with Leyster's circle.