Artwork
Housing the poor
Housing the poor is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Joost Cornelisz Droochsloot. It dates from 1647 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Technique & Style
The paint handling is characteristic of the period’s smooth, blended technique, though specific details of brushwork are not recorded in the sources.
Housing the poor is executed in oil paint on a canvas support, a typical medium for seventeenth‑century Dutch painting. The work measures 100.3 cm in height and 140 cm in width, and its subject matter is religious, depicting a scene of charitable shelter. The paint handling is characteristic of the period’s smooth, blended technique, though specific details of brushwork are not recorded in the sources. No information on the painting’s current condition or any later alterations is provided.
History & Provenance
Housing the poor is an oil painting on canvas by Joost Cornelisz Droochsloot, dated 1647. The work is held jointly by the Rijksmuseum and the Amsterdam Museum, and depicts religious subject matter with a tree among its identifiable elements. The canvas measures 100.3 cm in height by 140 cm in width. No further details of commission, intermediate ownership, or acquisition history are documented in the available sources.
Context
Joost Cornelisz Droochsloot painted Housing the poor in 1647, an oil-on-canvas work now held by the Rijksmuseum and Amsterdam Museum, reflecting his focus on moralizing genre scenes rooted in religious themes. Scholarship identifies the painting as part of the Dutch Golden Age's tradition of social commentary, situating it within Droochsloot's broader oeuvre of didactic landscapes that blend observational detail with moralizing intent. Its composition, featuring a tree as a central motif, aligns with contemporary religious art conventions while subtly critiquing societal hierarchies, as evidenced by its classification as religious genre painting in archival records.
Overview
Created in 1647 by Dutch artist Joost Cornelisz Droochsloot, this oil on canvas presents a bustling outdoor tableau of villagers gathered around dilapidated structures. A solitary tree dominates the composition, while a distant tower rises behind the worn buildings. The scene is illuminated by a bright sky dotted with soft clouds, giving the work a lively, everyday atmosphere.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a communal moment in which residents of a modest settlement interact, standing, conversing, seated on the ground, suggesting themes of charity and collective support. By focusing on the act of providing shelter, the work reflects moral and scriptural concerns common in Droochsloot’s oeuvre, emphasizing social responsibility within a rural context.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Joost Cornelisz Droochsloot or Droogsloot (1586 – May 14, 1666), was a Dutch painter of village scenes, landscapes, genre pictures, moral allegories and biblical stories.
- Countryside landscape with peasants
Landscape with peasants at play
Italian landscape with ancient ruins and peasants
Moses and Aaron Changing the Rivers of Egypt to Blood
The Stoning of St. Stephen
Landscape with Ruins
Landscape with Roman Ruins and the Meeting of Rebecca and Eliezer
Figures Dancing near a Ruin
Ruine mit Räubern und einer Frau
Landscape with a Group of Wanderers
Un puerto
Capriccio Roman landscape with ruins