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| The Visit to the Nursery |
Artist:Gabriël Metsu (Dutch, Leiden 1629–1667 Amsterdam)
Date:1661
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:30 1/2 x 32 in. (77.5 x 81.3 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number:17.190.20
In an impressively appointed room, modeled on a large chamber in the new Town Hall of Amsterdam, the parents of a newborn baby receive a fashionable well-wisher. Such a kraambezoek (cradle visit) was a minor ritual of polite society. At least two of the poses recall figures by one of Holland’s closest observers of modern manners, Gerard ter Borch. The painting was celebrated in its own time—for example, in a poem by Jan Vos of 1662—but unfortunately its surface is badly worn from cleanings in the past.
Copyright Image
https:images.metmuseum.org
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