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In other Dutch morality pictures of the time, a little girl would have been expected to show a good example; this one has an older brother to lead her astray. She has a wicked twinkle in her eye and the fingers of her hand curl round the cat’s tail, ready to give it a tug. Leyster has captured the boy’s half-guilty, half-unashamed expression as he teases the cat – he seems to be testing just how far he can go.
Title
A Boy and a Girl with a Cat and an Eel
Date
about 1635
Medium
oil on oak
Measurements
H 59.4 x W 48.8 cm
Accession number
NG5417
Acquisition method
Bequeathed by C.F. Leach, 1943
Work type
Painting
