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Notes

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There are lots of examples in Dutch seventeenth-century painting of artists using images of sleeping women for satirical purposes – to emphasise neglect of their moral duties. That is not the case here. Van Brekelenkam was more concerned with paying homage to diligent housekeepers: this woman has clearly not fallen asleep through drunkeness, laziness or neglect but because she is tired from work. Her kitchen is neat and ordered and she has laid out supper on a neatly pressed linen cloth. Her domestic chores done, she has nodded off while studying the Bible.

One slightly jarring note is hinted at, however. The relief on the stoneware jug shows Adam and Eve standing before God in the Garden of Eden. It is a reminder that, according to the Bible, it was a woman, Eve, who first disobeyed God and brought shame and sin into the world.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

A Woman Asleep by a Fire

Date

about 1648

Medium

Oil on oak

Measurements

H 43.7 x W 32.8 cm

Accession number

NG2550

Acquisition method

Salting Bequest, 1910

Work type

Painting

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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A Woman Asleep by a Fire

Quiringh Gerritsz van Brekelenkam (after 1622–1669 or after)

The National Gallery, London

How you can use this image

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Notes

The National Gallery, London