Pieter de Hooch - A Dutch Courtyard [1658-60]


Working in Delft, Pieter de Hooch (Dutch, 1629 - 1684) specialized in orderly, intimate spaces where housewives or maids go about their chores or pause to rest. Here a woman sips from a “pass-glass,” with rings marking equal portions for passing around to share. The little girl carries a brazier of hot coals for the men to light their long-stemmed, white clay pipes. To create a stable, sheltering environment for this depiction of domestic tranquility, De Hooch emphasized the geometry of the brick paving, window shutters, and wooden fence. Over the garden wall can be glimpsed the tower of Delft’s New Church.

[Oil on canvas, 69.5 x 60 cm]
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