Skip to main content

Pieter de Hooch, 'A Woman and her Maid in a Courtyard', about 1660/1

Key facts
Full title A Woman and her Maid in a Courtyard
Artist Pieter de Hooch
Artist dates 1629 - after 1684
Date made about 1660/1
Medium and support oil on canvas
Dimensions 73.7 × 62.6 cm
Inscription summary Signed; Dated
Acquisition credit Bought, 1869
Inventory number NG794
Location Not on display
Collection Main Collection
A Woman and her Maid in a Courtyard
Pieter de Hooch
/

We seem to be looking at a scene just outside a kitchen. A maid has brought a steaming cauldron out from the kitchen stove and placed it near the open drain in the courtyard. Apparently obeying her mistress, who stands in front of her, she seems to have taken the fish out of the cooking pot; perhaps she is doing this outside to make it easier to pour away the water.

One of the most appealing aspects of Dutch seventeenth-century painting is the insight it gives us into everyday life, and especially the lives of women. Scenes of ordinary mothers and children or maids and their mistresses at ease in their own homes had hardly been depicted in art before. But in Holland from about the 1640s, the theme became a popular one and Pieter de Hooch’s paintings are some of the most evocative examples of the genre.

Download image
Download low-resolution image

Download a low-resolution copy of this image for personal use.

License this image

License and download a high-resolution image for reproductions up to A3 size from the National Gallery Picture Library.

License image
Download low-resolution image

This image is licensed for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons agreement.

Examples of non-commercial use are:

  • Research, private study, or for internal circulation within an educational organisation (such as a school, college or university)
  • Non-profit publications, personal websites, blogs, and social media

The image file is 800 pixels on the longest side.

As a charity, we depend upon the generosity of individuals to ensure the collection continues to engage and inspire. Help keep us free by making a donation today.

Download low-resolution image

You must agree to the Creative Commons terms and conditions to download this image.

Creative Commons Logo