On display
Wikimedia Commons

A Game of Cards

Gabriel Metsu (1629 - 1667)

Artist/Maker

DatesMade: Made c.1660

Material / Technique

Oil on oak

Dimensionsh x w: Mått 65 x 58 cm h x w x d: Ram 76 x 66 x 5 cm

Inventory numberNM 510

AcqusitionTransferred 1865 Kongl. Museum

Other titlesTitel (sv): Spelparti Titel (en): A Game of Cards Titel (fr): Les Joueurs de cartes

DescriptionDescription: A fashionable young woman plays a game of cards with an officer in an elegant interior, while another man offers her a pipe. Images of card-players and smokers in taverns and brothels where soldiers and female prostitutes meet had a long tradition in Netherlandish art. The amorous context is suggested by the lady's foot-warmer, a utilitarian object but also a symbol of the lovelorn man who seeks to satisfy a woman by subjecting himself to her will.

Exhibited

Collection

MaterialOak (Wood), Oil paint

TechniquePainting

Keyword