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Gabriël Metsu (1629–1667) was a Dutch painter of
history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and B ...
s,
still lifes A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or human-made (drinking glasses, books, ...
,
portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...
s, and genre works. He was "a highly eclectic artist, who did not adhere to a consistent style, technique, or one type of subject for long periods". Only 14 of his 133 works are dated.


Life

Gabriel Metsu was the son of Jacques Metsu ( 1588 – March 1629), a tapestry worker and painter originally from Hainault, who lived most of his days at
Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
, and Jacquemijntje Garniers ( 1590 – 8 September 1651), the widow of a painter with three children of her own. It is not known when and where Gabriel was baptized; most likely in a Catholic hidden church but the baptismal records did not survive. Gabriel grew up on Lange Mare and his stepfather, a skipper, must have supported his education, because his mother was a poor midwife. In 1648 Metsu was registered among the first members of the painters'
guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...
at Leiden, but in 1650 he ceased to subscribe. Metsu was possibly trained in
Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
by the Catholic painters Nicolaus Knüpfer and Jan Weenix. Around 1655 Metsu moved to Amsterdam; he lived in an alley on
Prinsengracht The Prinsengracht is a -long canal that runs parallel to the Keizersgracht in the center of Amsterdam. The canal, named after the Prince of Orange, is the fourth of the four main canals belonging to the Grachtengordel, canal belt. History Const ...
, next to a brewery and near his relatives, the children of the sugar refiner Philips Metsu. In 1657 he got into an argument with a neighbor. (It was alleged that Metsu left a
brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...
at six in the morning.) Gabriel moved to a house on the canal side, where a daily vegetable market was held. In 1658 he married Isabella de Wolff, whose father was a potter and mother the painter Maria de Grebber. At the onset of the 1660s Metsu turned for inspiration to the art of the " fijnschilders" from his native Leiden. Metsu was responding to the market of Dou's paintings,Franits, W. (2008) Dutch seventeenth-century Genre Painting. Its stylistic and thematic evolution, p. 182. who sold his paintings all over for exorbitant prices. Metsu may have also influenced
Pieter de Hooch Pieter Hendricksz. de Hooch (; also spelled ''Hoogh'' or ''Hooghe''; 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 contemporary, in the ...
. For a while Metsu trained Michiel van Musscher and Joost van Geel. Metsu died at the age of 38 and was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk. Three bells were tolled; a habit in use with Dutch Catholics at that time. His widow left for
Enkhuizen Enkhuizen () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. History Enkhuizen, like Hoorn and Amsterdam, was one of the harbour-towns of the VOC, from where overseas trade ...
, to live with her mother. Isabella was buried in the Zuiderkerk in 1718.


Style and works

According to
Arnold Houbraken Arnold Houbraken (28 March 1660 – 14 October 1719) was a Dutch people, Dutch Painting, painter and writer from Dordrecht, now remembered mainly as a biographer of Dutch Golden Age painters. Life Houbraken was sent first to learn ''threadt ...
, Metsu was taught by
Gerard Dou Gerrit Dou (; 7 April 1613 – 9 February 1675), also known as Gerard Douw or Dow, was a Dutch Golden Age painting, Dutch Golden Age painter, whose small, highly polished paintings are typical of the Leiden fijnschilders. He specialised in genre s ...
, though prior to about 1653 his influence is not apparent. One of his earliest pictures is ''The Rich Man and Lazarus'' at the Strasbourg Museum, painted under the influence of
Jan Steen Jan Havickszoon Steen ( – buried 3 February 1679) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century. His works are known for their psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour. Life ...
. Under the influence of
Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...
he produced the ''Woman taken in Adultery,'' (1653) a large picture in the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
. To the same period belong the ''Dismissal of Hagar,'' in the Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden, and the ''Widow's Mite'' at the Schwerin Gallery. Around 1653–1654, Metsu began placing his figures in domestic interiors and specialized in genre scenes on small panels. Old people were among Metsu's favorite thematic borrowings from Dou during his first years in Amsterdam. Metsu often painted young (single) women who either fed pets, sold goods at market (fruit, vegetables, fish, poultry, or meat), or were grocery-shopping themselves for these provisions. Another significant painting from this period was '' The Vegetable Market in Amsterdam'', in the Louvre, for which the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition praised ", the characteristic movement and action of the dramatis personae, the selection of faces, the expression and the gesture, and the texture of the things depicted". Houbraken ends his biography with the comment that he was "of impeccable reputation", but he may have meant this ironically. Often, the subject of a Metsu painting was based on a popular emblem from an
emblem book An emblem book is a book collecting emblems (allegorical illustrations) with accompanying explanatory text, typically morals or poems. This category of books was popular in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries. Emblem books are collection ...
. This can give the painting a double meaning, such as in ''The Poultry seller'', 1662, showing an old man offering a
rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...
to a young girl in a symbolic pose that is based on a lewd engraving by Gillis van Breen (1595–1622), with the same scene. The accompanying verse is: '' The Sick Child'' in
Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the S ...
from "prompts the thought that Metsu strongly admired
Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , ; see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch ...
's work. he latter's Woman with a Water Jug was sold as a Metsu in 1877.">Woman_with_a_Water_Jug.html" ;"title="he latter's Woman with a Water Jug">he latter's Woman with a Water Jug was sold as a Metsu in 1877.It also provides us with a hint about what he thought was lacking in Vermeer's paintings: emotional involvement of the viewer". This is in compliance with other painting, ''The Doctor's Visit,'' where there is emotional involvement in the painting of a tragic event involving the ill woman. One of the finest collection of Metsu paintings was owned by Gerrit Braamcamp in the 18th century; he owned eight of them, including "man writing" and "woman reading a letter".


Carpets

At least thirteen of his paintings show carpets and he probably used the same model. He included several fine examples of minutely depicted floral and cloud band carpets in his works and even a silk
oriental rug An oriental rug is a heavy textile made for a wide variety of utilitarian and symbolic purposes and produced in "Orient, Oriental countries" for home use, local sale, and export. Oriental carpets can be knotted-pile carpet, pile woven or Kilim, ...
, as well as so-called "
lotto Lotto may refer to: * Lotto, original, 15th century name of the Italian lottery * Lotto America, one of many U.S. lottery games called Lotto * Lotto (Milan Metro), a railway station in Milan, Italy * Lotto carpet, a carpet having a lacy arabesq ...
" rugs which he for some reason, in contrast to his meticulous rendering of the floral carpets, depicted only in a very sketchy fashion.


Two paintings of the Hinlopen family

Around the year 1661, Metsu won the patronage of the Amsterdam cloth merchant Jan J. Hinlopen and painted his family more than once in a fashionable surrounding. There is still some confusion about two paintings by Metsu — the '' Portrait of the family Hinlopen'', now in the Gemäldegalerie, which for a few decades was referred to as ''The Family of burgomaster Gillis Valckenier'', and ''Visit to the Nursery'' — in the
Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5.36 million v ...
. There is some general resemblance. The latter belonged to Jan J. Hinlopen.


''Visit to the Nursery''

In 1662 Jan Vos published a poem about this painting. It might depict the Hinlopen family, but as the sitters have not been identified this painting it is more a genre work than a
portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...
. In 1721 Arnold Houbraken recalled the latter painting as the largest and finest work by Metsu he had ever seen. Franits calls it one of his most intriguing images. What makes this painting especially interesting is its provenance. The provenance is well-known, except for between the years 1666 and 1706. In 1680, after the burial of his brother and guardian Jacob J. Hinlopen the paintings were divided in lots and given to his daughters but none of the paintings or painters is mentioned. The scene is set in an imaginary room of unrealistically large proportions. The father gestures deferentially while a maid dutifully fetches a chair for this esteemed visitor. The chimney resembles the one in the "schepenzaal" of former Amsterdam townhall, also painted by
Pieter de Hooch Pieter Hendricksz. de Hooch (; also spelled ''Hoogh'' or ''Hooghe''; 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 contemporary, in the ...
. There is a
seascape A seascape is a photograph, painting, or other work of art which depicts the sea, in other words an example of marine art. The word originated as a formation from landscape, which was first used for images of land in art. By a similar de ...
on the wall and
Persian carpet A Persian carpet ( ), Persian rug ( ),Savory, R., ''Carpets'',(Encyclopaedia Iranica); accessed 30 January 2007. or Iranian carpet is a heavy textile made for a wide variety of utilitarian and symbolic purposes and produced in Iran (histo ...
s on the table and the floor. The carpet on the table is divided into compartments, which are partly
vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color family and pigment most often used between antiquity and the 19th century from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide). It is synonymous with red orange, which often takes a moder ...
red and partly
purple Purple is a color similar in appearance to violet light. In the RYB color model historically used in the arts, purple is a secondary color created by combining red and blue pigments. In the CMYK color model used in modern printing, purple is ...
red, and shield-shaped. The dark blue color of the borders on the carpet are relatively unusual.Onno Ydema (1991) Carpets and their Datings in Netherlandish Paintings, 1540 - 1700, p. 74. The dog in the painting could be a
Bolognese dog The Bolognese () is a small dog breed of the bichon type, originating in Italy. The name refers to the northern Italian city of Bologna. It is part of the toy dog group and is considered a companion dog. History They belong to the Bichon fam ...
. Hung in the reception room of Hinlopen's home, the ''Visit to the Nursery'' thus alluded to his powerful role in local politics.


Works

File:Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667), A Hunter Getting Dressed after Bathing, c. 1654-1656. Oil on panel.jpg, ''A Hunter Getting Dressed after Bathing'', c. 1654-1656 File:Gabriel Metsu - La Cuisinière.jpg, ''The Cook'', 1657 File:A Girl Receiving a Letter by Gabriel Metsu, Timken Museum of Art.JPG, '' A Girl Receiving a Letter'', 1658 File:Le Marché aux herbes d'Amsterdam - Gabriel Metsu - Musée du Louvre Peintures INV 1460.jpg, '' The Vegetable Market in Amsterdam'', c. 1660–1 File:Gabriël Metsu (1629-1667), A Baker Blowing his Horn, c.1660-3..jpg, ''A Baker Blowing his Horn'', c. 1660-3 File:Gabriel Metsu - Head of a Negress in a Simulated Opening NTIV POLY 1246502.jpg, '' Portrait of a Lady in Red'', 1667 File:The Intruder (c1661) Gabriel Metsu.jpg, ''The Intruder'' c. 1661 File:Metsu hinlopen-familie.jpg, ''The Hinlopen family'' c. 1662 File:Metsu viola-de-gamba.jpg, ''Woman Playing a Viola de gamba'', 1663 File:Gabriel Metsu - A Young Woman Composing Music and a Curious Man.JPG, ''A Young Woman Composing Music and a Curious Man'' 1662-1663 File:Gabriel Metsu - The Lacemaker.jpg, '' The Lacemaker'', 1663 File:Gabriël Metsu - Breakfast - WGA15075.jpg, ''Young Couple at Breakfast'' by Gabriël Metsu File:Visit to the nursery, by Gabriël Metsu.jpg, ''The Visit to the Nursery'' (1661) File:Gabriel Metsu 003.jpg, ''The Poultry-Seller'', 1662 File:Gabriel Metsu - Crucifixion - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Crucifixion'' File:Gabriël Metsu - Lady at a Virginal - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Lady at a Virginal'', 1660-1667 File:Gabriel Metsu - Le Vieux Buveur.jpg, ''The Old Drinker'' circa 1650-1667


Notes


Sources

* * Robinson, F.W. (1974) Gabriel Metsu (1629–1667) a Study of His Place in Dutch Genre Painting of the Golden Age. * Stone-Ferrier, L. (1989) Gabriel Metsu's Vegetable Market at Amsterdam: seventeenth century Dutch market paintings and horticulture. In: Art Bulletin Jrg. 71 (1989), nr. 3 (September)


External links


Gabriel Metsu's Cat Paintings

2010 Metsu exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland

Gabriel Metsu in the Rijksmuseum

Metsu and the Hinlopen Family at Museum Geelvinck Hinlopen Huis
(Dutch)
NGA about Metsu's Intruder



Works and literatureThe Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Metsu (cat. no. 4)
Dutch and Flemish paintings from the Hermitage
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Metsu (cat. no. 18) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Metsu, Gabriel 1629 births 1667 deaths Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters Dutch genre painters Dutch Roman Catholics Painters from Leiden Dutch history painters Burials at the Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam