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In this drastic depiction of a tooth extraction, the viewer is directly drawn into the dramatic episode. Simple country folk watch the procedure with apprehensive curiosity, one of them failing to notice that his purse is being stolen. Emotional genre scenes featuring large figures with dramatic light-dark contrasts and bold colours were typical of a group of Dutch painters called the “Utrecht Caravaggists”. Honthorst had encountered Caravaggio’s art during a 5-year sojourn in Rome.