FEMALE NARRATOR:
Morning light streams through an open window, as this young woman gets ready to greet the day. She appears lost in thought, while an elderly maid quietly combs her hair. The room is filled with luxurious items, attesting to her worldliness and wealth: voluminous silk curtains an ornate jewelry box and silver plate a canopied bed in the background a magnificent viola da gamba with sheet music and an elegant high-heeled slipper, dropped casually on the wooden floor. The rumpled pillow on the left suggests that someone has recently departed—a secret suitor, perhaps, with whom she had been making music or love.
Still, this woman’s pensive air may suggest a more serious theme than affluence or lovemaking. Metsu’s choice of a beautiful young woman being groomed by an older one recalls contemporary images of the Old Testament heroine Esther, whose story was extremely popular in 17th-century Holland. A wealthy young Jewess, Esther was often depicted at her toilette, arraying herself in splendor before pleading to the Syrian king Ahasuerus to spare the life of her people.
Metsu often used friends and family members as models. Some of the objects you see here were actually studio props, which he included in several other paintings. Notice how minutely he rendered their different textures the transparency of the green curtain on the left the velvet covering of the jewelry box or the gleaming surface of the viola. Like his contemporary Jan Vermeer, Metsu created intimate allegorical portraits that rank among the finest of the day.
Woman at Her Toilette
c. 1658
Gabriel Metsu (Dutch, 1629-1667)
On View
Depictions of a woman at her toilette were popular among collectors, and the topic allowed artists to describe the intimate confines of the Dutch home and its feminine space. The wistful outward gaze of the woman having her hair combed invites the viewer to contemplate her surroundings, perhaps to decipher her thoughts. A consummate painter of detail, Metsu uses light to enliven the interior of the room and the objects therein. It glows on the viola da gamba, sparkles across the ornate silver plate and suggests the diaphanous texture of the green drape that catches a puff of wind. The topic of a woman at her toilette has a long history in the visual arts that embraces both positive and negative connotations. The mirror, for instance, can suggest vanity or introspection. The playing of music, suggested by the sheet music and the stringed instrument, typically references love and, with the cast-off slipper nearby, perhaps longing. Such visual puzzles embedded in naturalistic scenes are characteristic of Dutch art in the 17th century.
Details
- Artist Name: Gabriel Metsu (Dutch, 1629-1667)
- Title: Woman at Her Toilette
- Date: c. 1658
- Medium: Oil on panel
- Dimensions: 25-1/2 x 22-3/4 in. (64.8 x 57.8 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1972.15.1.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
Jonas Jonasz. Witsen, (sale, Amsterdam, Zomer, Raket & Benoorden, 31 March 1717, no. 53).
Jacob van Leyen, (sale, Amsterdam, 17 April 1720, no. 6).
Joachim Rendorp, (sale, Amsterdam, Van der Schley, Roos & de Vries, 9 July 1794, no. 37 to);
Eberlein [probably one of the CPs for the sale, Johannes Eberlein].
Corneille-Louis Reynders, (sale, Brussels, Nieuwenhuys de Man, 8 August 1821, no. 64, bought in by);
[Nieuwenhuys, as CP, for 2,400 frs., for];
Le Chevalier Sébastien Erard, Château de la Muette, Passy (sale, Paris, Château de la Muette, 7 August 1832, no. 93, bought in for 8000); (sale, London, Christie’s, 22 June 1833, no. 34 to);
Rev. W. Clowes.
John Rogers, London (sale, London, Christie’s, 30 April-1 May, 1847, lot 184, sold 270 Gns to);
[Nieuwenhuys, London].
Marquise Théodule de Rhodes (sale, Paris, Le Roy, Petit, 30 May 1868, lot 9).
[E. H. Phillips, London, sold 1879 to];
Sir Francis Cook (d. 1901), by inheritance to;
Sir Herbert Cook (d. 1939), Doughty House, Richmond, sold 2 October 1944 to;
[Thomas Agnew & Sons and Edward Speelman] stock no. 9012; sold 9 July 1945 to;
Sir John Heathcoat-Amory, Bart., Tiverton (d. 1972), sold 1972 to;
[Edward Speelman, Ltd., London] sold 1972 to;
The Norton Simon Foundation, Pasadena.
Jacob van Leyen, (sale, Amsterdam, 17 April 1720, no. 6).
Joachim Rendorp, (sale, Amsterdam, Van der Schley, Roos & de Vries, 9 July 1794, no. 37 to);
Eberlein [probably one of the CPs for the sale, Johannes Eberlein].
Corneille-Louis Reynders, (sale, Brussels, Nieuwenhuys de Man, 8 August 1821, no. 64, bought in by);
[Nieuwenhuys, as CP, for 2,400 frs., for];
Le Chevalier Sébastien Erard, Château de la Muette, Passy (sale, Paris, Château de la Muette, 7 August 1832, no. 93, bought in for 8000); (sale, London, Christie’s, 22 June 1833, no. 34 to);
Rev. W. Clowes.
John Rogers, London (sale, London, Christie’s, 30 April-1 May, 1847, lot 184, sold 270 Gns to);
[Nieuwenhuys, London].
Marquise Théodule de Rhodes (sale, Paris, Le Roy, Petit, 30 May 1868, lot 9).
[E. H. Phillips, London, sold 1879 to];
Sir Francis Cook (d. 1901), by inheritance to;
Sir Herbert Cook (d. 1939), Doughty House, Richmond, sold 2 October 1944 to;
[Thomas Agnew & Sons and Edward Speelman] stock no. 9012; sold 9 July 1945 to;
Sir John Heathcoat-Amory, Bart., Tiverton (d. 1972), sold 1972 to;
[Edward Speelman, Ltd., London] sold 1972 to;
The Norton Simon Foundation, Pasadena.
The Heathcote Amory Collection
- King's Lynn, St. George's Guildhall, 1965-07-17 to 1965-07-31
Gabriel Metsu
- Leiden, Stedelijk Museum "de Lakenhal", 1966-06-22 to 1966-09-05
Exhibition of 17th Century Dutch Pictures
- , 1958-07-26 to 1958-08-09
Thirty-Five Masterpieces of European Painting
- London, Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1946-11 to 1946-12
Encountering the Dutch Likeness: Portraiture in 17th Century Holland
- Norton Simon Museum, 1993-09-02 to 1996
Tulips are in Bloom
- Norton Simon Museum, 1993-04-29 to 1993-08
- Fermoy Art Gallery, The Heathcote Armory Collection, no. 12 pp. 2, 15
- Gudlaugsson, S. J., Oud Holland 83, n. 22 pp. 24, 25, 40
- Hoet, Gérard, Catalogus of naamlyst van schilderyen, 1752, p. 208
- Smith, John, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French painters, 1837, no. 74 p. 97
- de Groot, C. Hofstede, A Catalogue Raisonne of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth CEntury, 1908, no. 88
- Brockwell, M. W., A Catalogue of Painting in the Collection of Sir Herbert Cook at Doughty House, 1915, no. 284
- Thomas Agnew and Sons, Thirty-five Masterpieces, 1946, no. 5
- Wessem, J. N., and Lucia Thyssen, Gabriel Metsu, 1966, no. 32 pp. 96-97
- Schneede, Uwe M., Oud Holland 83, 1968, fig. 6 pp. 47, 51
- Robinson, Franklin W., Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667): A Study of his Place in Dutch Genre Painting of the Golden Age, 1974, fig. 122 p. 49, 172
- Norton Simon Museum, Selected Paintings at the Norton Simon Museum, 1980, p. 51
- Sutton, P.; W. Robinson, O Naumann, J. Kelch, C. Brown, Exhibition Catalogue: Masters of the Seventeenth-Century Dutch Genre Painting, 1984, p. 253
- Sutton, Peter C., A Guide to Dutch Art in America, 1986, p. 218
- Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, 1989, p. 82
- Sutton, Peter C., Great Dutch Paintings from America, 1990, fig. 3 p. 108
- Sutton, P. C., Dutch and Flemish Seventeenth-Century Paintings, 1992, fig. 8 pp. 8-9
- Wheelock, A., et al., Johannes Vermeer, 1995, fig. 13 p. 40
- Danziger, Elon, The Burlington Magazine, 2004, p. 448
- Waiboer, Dr. Adriaan, Gabriel Metsu: Life and Work, 2010, Fig. A-28 p. 42
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 791 p. 339
- Todorov, Tzvetan, Elogio de lo cotidiano, 2013, Fig. 15 p. # 49, p.# 50, p.#51, p.#52
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