In Italy around 1640, Thomas Wijck followed the Bamboccianti in cultivating a predilection for lowlife scenes in everyday Italian settings. Drawing from Lazarillo de Tormes, a banned but nonetheless widely circulated picaresque Spanish novella, Wijck shows the young Lazarillo stealing from the blind beggar to whom he is apprenticed. Compounding the irreverence of his theme, Wijck juxtaposes his churlish figures with the grandeur of classical ruins and a biblical reference to Joseph and Mary’s flight into Egypt.