Lot Essay
The original, signed, oil on canvas, 80.9 x 97.9 cm, is in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, since 1806 . It dates from the early 1650's when the artist was living in Leyden and shows the influence of Jan Steen (F.W. Robinson, Gabriel Metsu, 1974, p.110, fig.18). The subject must have been known to Metsu by works of great Antwerp painters such as Jacob Jordaens. Metsu's aim, therefore, must have been to compete with the famous generation of painters before him.
See illustration
See illustration