Danielsz., Peter Paul Rubens and Daniel Seghers. The genre was initially connected to the visual imagery of the Counter-Reformation movement. The genre was further inspired by the cult of veneration and devotion to Mary prevalent at the Habsburg court (then the rulers over the Southern Netherlands) and in Antwerp generally. The earliest specimens of the genre often include a devotional image of Mary in the cartouche but in later examples the image in the cartouche could be religious as well as secular as is the case of Teniers's The Soap Bubbles. In 1676 Teniers collaborated with his nephew or cousin Gualterus Gysaerts, a still life painter, on a series of 19 garland paintings depicting the martyrs of Gorkum. The series was made for the Minorite Church in Mechelen following the beatification of the martyrs on 9 July 1676. Teniers painted the monochrome bust portrait of each martyr in a cartouche while Gysaerts painted the cartouche and the flower garland surrounding it. Of these paintings, eight are known still to exist, one of which, depicting the martyr Hieronymus van Weert, is in the Rijksmuseum. Both Gysaerts and Teniers signed the painting in the Rijksmuseum. Influence Teniers's genre paintings were influential on northern painters of the 17th century. His work was easily accessible to other artists as he was one of the most reproduced artists of his time and prints after his work were produced in large quantities. In Flanders he influenced his pupil Gillis van Tilborgh and David Rijckaert III. In the Dutch Republic Thomas Wijck, Frans van Mieris the Elder, Jacob Toorenvliet and Cornelis Bega were influenced by his scenes of alchemists. In the 18th century, Parisian collectors eagerly competed to lay their hands on Teniers's works. They knew the artist chiefly for his idealized scenes of rural life, paintings of village feasts, interiors with peasants and guardroom scenes. Teniers's work was very much admired by French painters of that time, particularly Antoine Watteau. Without Teniers's influence it is unlikely that Watteau would have developed his typical style and subjects. In particular the village feasts of Teniers had shown the way for Watteau in the development of his fêtes galantes, which featured figures in ball dress or masquerade costumes disporting themselves amorously in parkland settings. In the 18th century, Watteau was commonly described as the 'French Teniers', thus showing that the comparison between the two artists contributed to Watteau's success.