Scene from the Life of Tramps (Lazzaroni)

The composition portrays itinerant laborers, offering a rare visual record of the marginalised groups that populated Rome’s urban landscape. By focusing on the activities and interactions of these wanderers, the painting invites contemplation of social hierarchies and the lived realities of the city’s poorest inhabitants.

Miel employs a clear, naturalistic approach characteristic of the Bamboccianti, the circle of Northern European genre painters active in Rome. The handling of light and shadow creates a modest chiaroscuro effect, modelling figures with subtle gradations that enhance the sense of immediacy without resorting to dramatic theatricality.

Created during Miel’s Roman period, the canvas reflects his initial alignment with the Bamboccianti before his later turn toward classical subjects. After changing hands over the centuries, the painting entered the State Hermitage Museum’s holdings, where it remains on display as part of the museum’s European Baroque collection.

In mid‑17th‑century Rome, genre scenes of everyday life offered a counterpoint to the grand historical and religious commissions that dominated the art market. Miel’s work fits within this broader trend, documenting the quotidian world of the city’s lower classes while adhering to the compositional conventions of the period’s Northern European expatriate community.