A servant girl has been found asleep by an older couple. Beside her, on a table covered with a checked cloth, is an unplucked dead goose and a large stoneware pitcher; at her feet waits a hungry cat beside a large copper basin. The artist has enriched the kitchen setting with such details as the broken mirror and the ceramic vase suspended from wall pegs, a large wooden-slatted bird-cage, and a wainscot of delft tiles. This painting illustrates the domestic genre practiced by leys' master f. De braekeleer and by leys himself, early in his career. Paul mantz cited a flemish kitchen scene by leys, dated 1841, "m. Henri leys," in the "gazette des beaux-arts," 20 (1866):249. Another "interieur flamand," dated 1836, was sold at the john wilson sale, paris, march 14-16, 1881, no. 168. Date: circa 1840. Place of creation: Belgium. Dimensions: height: 37.5 cm (14.7 in); width: 29 cm (11.4 in). Medium: mahogany, oil on wood, panel. Collection: Walters Art Museum. Jean August Hendrik Leys - Dutch Interior - Walters 37144
Loading...
