Artwork
Indulgent Old Lady
Indulgent Old Lady is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Jacob van Loo. It dates from 1654 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a woman in a domestic interior, joined by a man and a cat gathered around a bed, a table, a spinning wheel, and a hearth.
Indulgent Old Lady is a genre scene by Jacob van Loo, painted in 1654 in the Netherlands. The composition centers on a woman in a domestic interior, joined by a man and a cat gathered around a bed, a table, a spinning wheel, and a hearth. These elements together construct a recognizable Dutch genre vocabulary of the mid-seventeenth century, in which the household, its furnishings, its labor tools, and its pets, serves as the stage for scenes of everyday life.
The juxtaposition of the spinning wheel with the bed and the presence of a man and a cat alongside the seated woman has traditionally invited readings tied to moralizing themes common in Dutch genre painting, such as the contrast between virtuous domestic labor and the temptations of idleness, sleep, or amorous distraction. The cat, a frequent allegorical figure in such interiors, often signals themes of desire, comfort, or domestic disorder. The hearth and table reinforce the intimate, enclosed character of the scene, framing the figures within the routines of the household.
Technique & Style
The work titled Indulgent Old Lady is an oil painting executed on canvas in 1654. It belongs to the genre-scene category and was produced in the Netherlands before entering the Hermitage Museum collection. The composition presents a domestic interior populated by a woman, a man, a cat, a bed, a table, a spinning wheel and a hearth, emphasizing everyday activity.
These elements are rendered with a focus on intimate domestic details, characteristic of genre scenes of the period. The painting's surface retains the texture of oil on canvas, contributing to a rich, layered visual field.
History & Provenance
The painting Indulgent Old Lady by Jacob van Loo is dated 1654 and is associated with the Dutch Golden Age genre tradition. It entered the collection of the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, where it remains held. The work depicts a domestic scene centered on an older woman, accompanied by a younger man and a cat, set within a modest interior that includes a spinning wheel and hearth.
The canvas dimensions are recorded as 75.5 cm in height by 64.5 cm in width, and it is identified as having been created in the Netherlands during the mid-17th century. The painting is inventoried as Ж-513.
Overview
Jacob van Loo, a Dutch Golden Age painter, completed Indulgent Old Lady in 1654. This oil painting captures a domestic genre scene, depicting an elderly woman engaged in spinning, surrounded by other figures in a warmly lit interior. The work exemplifies van Loo's ability to arrange figures within a narrative setting.
It is currently housed in the State Hermitage Museum, representing a key example of his output during his active career in Amsterdam and Paris.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Jacob van Loo (1614 – 26 November 1670) was a painter of the Dutch Golden Age, chiefly active in Amsterdam and, after 1660, in Paris.
