Artwork
Breakfast
Breakfast is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Karel Slabbaert. It dates from 1650 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Technique & Style
Karel Slabbaert painted Breakfast in 1650 using oil paint on a wooden panel, a technique typical of Dutch genre scenes from the mid‑17th century.
Karel Slabbaert painted Breakfast in 1650 using oil paint on a wooden panel, a technique typical of Dutch genre scenes from the mid‑17th century. The work measures 70 cm in height and 55 cm in width, reflecting the modest scale of domestic interiors favored by genre painters. Its surface remains well‑preserved, showing the characteristic fine brushwork and subtle tonal modeling associated with the Amsterdam school.
The composition captures a quiet moment of domestic life, emphasizing texture and light through layered applications of oil paint.
History & Provenance
Breakfast is an oil-on-panel painting by Karel Slabbaert dated to 1650. The work entered the collection of the Rijksmuseum, where it is currently held. No information is available regarding a commission, prior ownership, or earlier provenance prior to its accession by the museum. establishes the artist, medium, and date of creation, while confirms the inception year of 1650, the oil-on-panel medium, and the Rijksmuseum as the holding institution.
The painting is held by the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, where it is inventoried as SK-C-1947.
It was included in the exhibition “Karel Slabbaert (c. 1618–1654): Still Lifes and Genre Scenes,” held at the Rijksmuseum from 16 October 2015 to 17 January 2016.
Overview
Breakfast is a 17th-century oil painting by Karel Slabbaert, a Dutch artist active in Middelburg. Created around 1650, it is a representative work of the Dutch Golden Age.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a somber domestic scene: a woman in a red robe sits at a table with two children, surrounded by everyday objects like bread and a jug. The scene is characteristic of the genre paintings common during the Dutch Golden Age.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Karel Slabbaert (1618 – 1654 in Zierikzee; † before November 6, 1654, in Leiden) was a Dutch painter and draftsman.
- Lacemaker
A Housewife Instructing her Maid
Making Pancakes
A Lady and a Child with a Serving Maid
A Mother Giving her Child the Breast
Untitled
Mother with two children
Interior with a Mother Combing her Child’s Hair, Known as ‘Maternal Care’
A Mother Feeding her Child (The Happy Mother)
Old Woman Cutting Bread
Virgin and Child with St Anne
The Young Mother