Woman washing textiles in a tub

The Washerwoman is a small oil on panel by Gabriël Metsu, dated 1656, showing a woman standing as she washes clothes in a wooden tub while she looks out at the viewer. The scene is framed behind a stone arch with an illusionistic look, a device Metsu borrowed from Gerrit Dou, although here the figure stands in the foreground, cut off at the knees rather than half-length as in his teacher's work. The background is treated with considerable simplicity, recalling Gerard ter Borch. The composition is built on a triangle formed by the woman's silhouette, which leads the eye to her hands resting on the rim of the tub, while the white linen, lit with restrained chiaroscuro, underlines the weight of her labour. What stands out is that Metsu turns a household chore into a subject rarely seen in Dutch painting, and it is probably the oldest surviving depiction of a woman doing laundry in Dutch art. Between 1656 and 1657 he painted several similar scenes of young maidservants, and this picture is linked to another in which a woman scours a pan.

Painter

Gabriel Metsu

Date

1656

Medium

oil paint, panel

Dimensions

24 × 21 cm

Museum

Wawel Castle, Kraków

Genre

genre art

Depicts

pitcher, washerwoman, wash kettle, woman

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