Ancient painting "Card Players" oil on canvas Italy 18th century

Oil on canvas. Inside an inn, customers are playing cards: the man sitting on the left is cheating, hiding a card in the collar of his shabby jacket, under the amused gaze of the innkeeper who is arriving. The figures are grotesque, almost caricature-like; the colours are mainly earthy, to emphasise the popular setting. Restored and relined (on the back is a restorer's label dated 1952), the painting is presented in an old frame.