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.
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 | |
| Object | |
| Geographical origin | Southern Netherlands > The Netherlands > Western Europe > Europe |
