Sleeping old man and girl

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It is not really very tasteful to show a girl hunting lice in the hair of a sleeping old man - a mendicant friar perhaps. But Sweerts gave it nobility by showing us its beauty. It is not just picturesque, let alone amusing, as people often regard scenes like this. Old age, devotion and love of one’s fellow man: the simple, the everyday, acquire grandeur here.

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Specifications

Title	Sleeping old man and girl
Material and technique	Oil on canvas
Object type	Painting > Painting > Two-dimensional object > Art object
Location	This object is in storage

Dimensions	Height 44,5 cm Width 32,5 cm
Artists	Painter: Michael Sweerts
Accession number	2889 (OK)
Credits	From the estate of Vitale Bloch, 1976
Department	Old Masters
Acquisition date	1976
Creation date	in circa 1650
Collector	Collector / Vitale Bloch
Internal exhibitions	The Collection Enriched (2011)
External exhibitions	The joy of everyday life – in the Netherlands and Denmark (2024)
Material	Oil > Paint > Artist's material > Material > Material and technique Canvas > Worked fibres > Fibre > Vegetable material > Organic material > Material > Material and technique
Object	Painting > Painting > Two-dimensional object > Art object
Geographical origin	Southern Netherlands > The Netherlands > Western Europe > Europe