A Woman combing a Boy's Hair by Gerrit Dou

"A Woman combing a Boy's Hair" by Gerrit Dou (1646) records one of the humblest acts in Western painting: a delousing. Dou, a student of Rembrandt, was a Leiden fijnschilder who lavished meticulous detail on small domestic scenes. The painting hangs in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich.

The fine-toothed comb in the woman's hand is the key to the scene. Her face is pure concentration, no drama, no shame. The boy looks away, enduring. Garlic hangs behind them, a household staple.

Painted in 1646 during the Dutch Golden Age, the work exemplifies the Leiden fijnschilders' devotion to everyday subjects rendered with the polish of a miniature. After centuries in private collections, it entered Munich's Alte Pinakothek.

The great Dutch painters gave us ships and burghers. Dou gave us a woman doing a job that simply needed doing.