Getty Museum
Moralizing Scene with an Old Woman and a Man
Creator
Adriaen van de VenneDutch Artist · 1589–1662
All works by this person →Painter, draftsman, and poet, Adriaen van de Venne rejected the international grand manner based on antique models and created a new style based on Holland's own idioms. Although largely self-taught, he also studied with local painters who may have taught him the grisaille technique--painting in shades of gray--that characterizes his later work. By 1614 he was in Middelburg, where his earliest dat
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- 1631
- Medium
- Oil over black chalk, on paper
- Culture
- Dutch
- Department
- Drawings
- Institution
- Getty Museum
A bent, old woman carrying a cat leans forward to take a quick puff on the clay pipe offered to her by a bearded man. The man's belly protrudes into the center of the scene, almost touching the woman's hand. Bagpipes, often used to symbolize sexual prowess, hang from his belt. In the background, a boy pats a dog while an older man taps on the old woman's shoulder. The single flame of a lamp and a crescent moon that peeps out from behind the clouds are the only sources of illumination in this night scene. Adriaen van de Venne used sharp contrasts in lighting to emphasize the deep creases in the bearded man's face, his grubby hands, and the coarse wool of the elderly woman's skirt.
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