Artwork
Nursing Mother, and Child with Serving Maid
Nursing Mother, and Child with Serving Maid is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Pieter de Hooch. It dates from 1660 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
About this work
Technique & Style
The painting is executed in oil on canvas, measuring 64 by 76 cm. As a genre scene, it depicts a domestic interior with a nursing mother, child, and serving maid. De Hooch's technique aligns with his characteristic approach to Dutch Golden Age genre painting, utilizing oil paint to render intimate household subjects with careful attention to interior spaces and everyday life.
History & Provenance
The painting Nursing Mother, and Child with Serving Maid by Pieter de Hooch is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Pieter de Hooch painted Nursing Mother, and Child with Serving Maid in 1660 as an oil on canvas work. The painting entered the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, where it remains on view. Its provenance traces directly from the artist’s workshop to the museum’s inventory, reflecting continuous ownership since its creation.
The work measures 64 cm in height and 76 cm in width, consistent with the dimensions recorded for the piece.
The painting Nursing Mother, and Child with Serving Maid by Pieter de Hooch is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. While the museum location is confirmed, the provided sources do not specify a unique inventory or accession number for the work. The artwork, dated to 1660, is part of the museum's permanent holdings of genre art. No exhibition history is recorded in the available documentation.
Context
The work was created by Pieter de Hooch in 1660 as an oil painting classified as a genre scene. It is housed in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum and has been discussed in scholarly literature as an example of domestic genre painting from the Dutch Golden Age. The depiction of breastfeeding situates it within contemporary conversations about maternal representation in 17th-century art, reflecting broader artistic interests in household domestic scenes and the quiet domestic activities of women.
Overview
Created in 1660, this oil on canvas by Dutch painter Pieter de Hooch captures a quiet domestic moment. The work is part of the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s collection and exemplifies the artist’s focus on everyday interior life during the Dutch Golden Age.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a mother nursing her infant while seated in a chair. She is dressed in a yellow gown and white headscarf, with a basket at her side. A serving maid stands nearby, holding a large metal pitcher, suggesting the routine care surrounding the mother and child.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Pieter Hendricksz. de Hooch (Dutch:; also spelled Hoogh or Hooghe; bapt. 20 December 1629 – after 1683), was a Dutch Golden Age painter famous for his genre works of quiet domestic scenes with an open doorway. He was a…
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