He took painting classes on the side, however, and when he was in his 20s he helped found Les Nabis, a group of symbolistpainters who idolized Paul Gauguin.
The painting's brutalized characters, drawn from history, the Bible, popular culture and even Ensor's family, align the Symbolist artist with a satiric tradition that includes such earlier Northern painters as Hieronymous Bosch and Pieter Bruegel.