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In the first half of nineteenth century, intellectual life in Hungary turned towards the peasantry with increasing interest, and there was a great flowering of folk plays. Hungarian artists often painted gay feasts in the style of stage scenery. One of these in this picture by Ágost Canzi, which even in his lifetime appeared in polychrome and monochrome reproductions. August Canzi was born in Wien-Baden, studied in Paris and from 1846 settled in Pest. The War of Independence filled him with Hungarian national sentiment, and he even took to signing his pictures as Ágost in the Hungarian way. The gay vintage procession is carrying a Hungarian flag. With this seemingly unimportant detail, the painter wished to express the patriotic feelings of the people at a time of great oppression.
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