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''The Courtyard of a House in Delft'' is a 1658 painting in the National Gallery, London made in the Dutch Golden Age by
Pieter de Hooch Pieter de Hooch (, also spelled "Hoogh" or "Hooghe"; 20 December 1629 (baptized) – 24 March 1684 (buried)) was a Dutch Golden Age painter famous for his genre works of quiet domestic scenes with an open doorway. He was a contemporary of ...
. The painting portrays domestic architecture typical of de Hooch's middle period; the details and textures of the building and courtyard are given as much or more of the artist's attention as the people. It is signed and dated to the left on the archway "P.D.H. / A 1658". The scene is divided into two pieces. To the left, an archway of brick and stone leads from a paved courtyard a passageway though a house, where a woman dressed in black and red stands looking away to the street beyond. A stone tablet above the doorway was originally over the entrance of the in Delft. It reads, in Dutch: "Dit is in sint hieronimus daelle / wildt v tot pacientie en lydtsaemheijt begeeven / vvand wij muetten eerst daellen / willen wy worden verheeven 1614" (in English: "This is in
Saint Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...
's dale / please be patient and meek / for we must first descend / if we wish to be raised."). When the cloister was suppressed this tablet was removed but can still be seen set into the wall of a garden behind the canal. To the right, a vine is growing over a wooden structure, with an open door through the brick wall to the far right, and a woman dressed in white and blue leading a child down steps to the courtyard. The woman is carrying a dish in her other hand, and a bucket and a broom have been left in the courtyard. Similar figures can also be seen in contemporaneous works including '' A Woman Drinking with Two Men'' (1658), and the woman in black and red can be seen in '' A Boy Bringing Bread'' (1663). A similar composition with the same doorway can be seen in the '' Courtyard with an Arbour'', also dated 1658, which sold at Christie's in London in December 1992 for £4.4 million. The painting was documented by Hofstede de Groot in 1908, and catalogued by John Smith (Sm. Suppl. 50) and de Groot (de G. 38). It remained in the Netherlands until 1825, when it was bought by Sir Robert Peel. It was engraved by
Paul Adolphe Rajon Paul-Adolphe Rajon (1843 – 8 June 1888) was a French painter and printmaker, who started his career as a photographer. Early life Born at Dijon, Rajon was the third child of Jean Marie Rajon, a hairdresser, by his marriage with Caroline Jaugey ...
. It was sold in 1871 by Peel's son
Sir Robert Peel, 3rd Baronet Sir Robert Peel, 3rd Baronet, GCB, PC (4 May 1822 – 9 May 1895) was a British Peelite, Liberal and from 1884 until 1886 Conservative Member of Parliament (MP). Eldest son of the prime minister Robert Peel, he was educated at Harrow and ...
, along with the rest of his father's art collection, to the
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
, London, where it was No. 835 in the 1906 catalogue. The work was the subject of a poem by
Derek Mahon Derek Mahon (23 November 1941 – 1 October 2020) was an Irish poet. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland but lived in a number of cities around the world. At his death it was noted that his, "influence in the Irish poetry community, lit ...
.''Courtyards in Delft'', 1981. Gallery Press. Detailed in Brown, Terence. ''The Literature of Ireland: Culture and Criticism'',
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...
, 2010.


References


External links


Pieter de Hooch, ''The Courtyard of a House in Delft''
National Gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Courtyard of a House in Delft 1658 paintings Paintings by Pieter de Hooch Collections of the National Gallery, London Courtyards