domestic domains, EJF

Domestic Domains

Understanding the Values and Virtues of the 17th Century Dutch Family through Domestic Genre Paintings

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Samuel Hoogstraten, The Slippers, c. 1642–1678, oil on canvas, 103 x 70 cm, Musee de Louvre

If one were able to peer through the window of an average Dutch home in the seventeenth century, they might well stumble upon a scene much like this: a mother delousing her child in a modest bedroom. De Hooch provides ample room to look around. The minimal use of furniture and open windows lend to the sense of an open and unintimidating space. The mother and her child are tucked into the side of a private room. Such glimpses of these intimate scenes were characteristic of de Hooch and were popular subjects for paintings during the Dutch Baroque. Historical scenes and biblical allusions were not as common. Instead, scenes of an ordinary life were deeply admired.

Pieter de Hooch, Mother’s Duty, (c. 1660–1661, oil on canvas, 52.5 x 61 cm, Rijksmuseum).

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INTRODUCTION

Hover over the points of interest, and consider how the different cultural aspects affect your understanding of this painting.

Tiles were commonplace in the Dutch home in places of housework, usually fireplaces and kitchens because they were durable and easy to maintain [1]. The blue and white tiles that originated in the city of Delft started being produced in the early seventeenth century [2]. These tiles, though, have no function except to beautify the home. They are an example of middle-class wealth and the desire for beautiful spaces. 1, Flor, A Herança de Santos Simões, 202. 2, Flor, A Herança de Santos Simões, 202.

At the close of the Eighty Years’ War, the Netherlands gained independence, and the middle glass grew substantially. The Dutch economy was a Capitalist one that had a preference for an open market rather than the patronage system. Art was an affluent market that made up a considerable portion of the economy [1]. The expansion of the middle class meant that people could not only afford art, but that creative excellence became routine. 1, Prak, Maarten, and Zanden, Pioneers of Capitalism, 21–22.

The mother checking her child for lice acts in a symbolic nature. The association with cleanliness and purity goes back to biblical themes and ritual cleansings like baptism [1]. The act of cleaning the child therefore might be seen as a form of cleansing of the child’s soul. In the same way that the mother is her child’s first teacher, religious teachings were also among her many jobs [2]. 1, Wheelock, Johannes Vermeer, 146. 2, Durantini, The Child in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting, 72.

Thick, colorful fabrics such as these were more expensive. You can see the weight of the fabric from the way it drapes heavily with thick creases. The fringe also indicates its value. In contrast, this type of bed, called a box-bed, was very modest for the time. Despite her modest surroundings, the woman has decorated it with various indications of disposable income. Notice that she has two paintings, and the bed-warmer hanging to the right of the bed has an intricately carved handle. This was typical of the Dutch middle class. Being affluent and having excess wealth was seen as being in God's favor [1]. 1, Weber, Protestant Ethic, 84.

The burgher class grew increasingly powerful during the seventeenth century, and saw the height of both economic expansion and the development of an open market that could not only afford art, but one where creative excellence became routine. The economic changes significantly impacted the Dutch burgher class, particularly in term of their access to visual art. In line with the Protestant rejection of a ruling upper class, and resulting from a successful open market, the burgher class became not just larger but also affluent.

VERMEER - 1632-1675

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INTRODUCTION

Johannes Vermeer, View of Delft, c. 1659–1661, oil on canvas, 96.5 cm × 115.7 cm, Maurithuis Museum.

During the early decades of the seventeenth century, the United Provinces showcased to the world astonishing advancements in urban industry, commerce, agriculture, and international trade. The Dutch Republic built a maritime empire in commerce and international trade, becoming the primary carriers of refined sugar among other popular goods like tobacco and even pelts from the Native American Mohawk tribe [1]. The Netherlands became a ruler in international trade with incredible artistic craftsmanship. 1, Romney, “With & alongside His Housewife,” 191.

In his seminal essay The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, German sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920) argues that religious affiliation is not the cause for a state’s economic climate, but instead proves to be the result of their economic circumstances [1]. In the case of the seventeenth-century Netherlands, it is a perfect application of his theory. Protestants (and subsequently Calvinists) went above and beyond in their occupational pursuits, as financial prosperity was as a symbol of divine favor. Just as Weber noticed the occupational statistics of countries with a composition of mixed religions, [2] the Netherlands reflects Weber’s notion that “business leaders and owners of capital…skilled labor...commercially trained personnel…are overwhelmingly Protestant." [3]. 1, Weber, The Protestant Ethic, 3. 2, Weber, The Protestant Ethic, 3. 3, Weber, The Protestant Ethic, 3.

Alongside the Protestant changes in the Dutch household during the seventeenth century, for the first time, business was no longer done in the home. Where business was previously done in the same building one ate and slept, seventeenth-century city planners made buildings specifically for businesses [1]. Because men went out to their places of business elsewhere in the city, the domestic space became the domain of women [2]. The role of women was both to establish the home and to maintain the civility of the family in a modern and highly advanced society [3]. 1, Rasmussen, Towns and buildings, 19. 2, Romney, “With & alongside His Housewife,” 191. 3, Frantis, Pieter de Hooch, 39.

Churches, while still prevalent in every major Netherlandish town [1], were not the primary place of worship during the seventeenth century [2]. The Protestant Reformation brought about a change that followed humanist thought in considering the home to be the foundation of society, and as such, religious teaching and practices occurred primarily at home [3]. 1, Rasmussen, Towns and Buildings, 86. 2, Duratini, The Child in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting, 72. 3, Frantis, Peieter de Hooch, 40.

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Family

Religion

Domesticity

The Dutch Baroque people had three major values

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The Merry Family

Mother Nursing

The Dropsical Woman

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The Dropsical Woman

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During the seventeenth century, this ailing woman would have been diagnosed with dropsy, which is the historic term for a swelling of the limbs due to excess water. Today, it would be diagnosed as edema. Her illness is a metaphor for her need for salvation.

DOU - 1613-1675

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1663, Gerrit Dou, Oil on wood, 86 x 67.8 cm

The clock is a symbol for both the passage of time, and in this case, time running out. It is another reminder that this woman has spent her life not paying diligence to Protestant practice. She looks to the window for a last chance at salvation.

If you follow the woman's gaze, it meets this window. Round windows like this were common in Dutch homes. This one might iconographically represent a stylized tondo or the Cross of the Resurrection in order for Dou to assert the religious reading of this piece. Christ, Pietro Cavallini, c. 13th Century Italy

This is a basin of water for cleaning oneself. Deriving from art of the Old and New Testaments, water is a symbol of purity [1]. Bible stories of miraculous cures or miracles accomplished with water supplied ecclesiastics and, by extension, artists, with a set of symbols to connect holy text to practice and ideology [2]. 1, Jensen, Living Water, 35. 2, Jensen, Living Water, 280.

In the Northern Renaissance, the lit candle became a symbol for the presence of God. Notice that the fireplace is lit, but the chandelier is empty. Perhaps Dou is telling us that she has been neglectful in her worship and practice. Detail from The Arnolfini Portrait, Jan van Eyck, 1434.

This woman is accompanied by two other woman. They are most likely her maid and her daughter. Mothers also have religious connotations and are associated with the Virgin Mary, whose attribute is often a book, meant to be read as the bible. The book left open on her stand is a symbol for religious education and worship (or a lack thereof). Detail from the Merode Altarpiece, Robert Campin, c. 1472-1432.

This is a historic type of doctor called a urologist, although they did not study what urologists do today. In fact, urologists in the Dutch Baroque did not have the best reputation, and were often the subject of satire and ridicule [1]. The satirical or morally problematic subject serves to present the opposite side of virtue and warn the contemporary Dutch viewer of the consequences of neglecting their Protestant practice. The Quack, Gerrit Dou, c. 1652, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

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Cats, Jacob. Houwelyck, dat is, De Gansche Gelegtheydt des Echten Staets. Internet Archive. Tot Middelburgh: Inde druckerye van Jan Pieterss vande Venne, 1625. Chapman, H. Perry, Wouter Th. Kloek, and Arthur K. Wheelock. Jan Steen: Painter and Storyteller. Edited by Guido M. C. Jansen. Washington: NationalGallery of Art, 1996. Durantini, Mary Frances. The Child in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting. Internet Archive. Ann Arbor, Mich: UMI Research Press, 1983. Flor, Susana Varela. A Herança de Santos Simões: Developments in Research on Dutch Tiles. Academia. Lisboa: Colibri, 2014. Jensen, Robin Margaret. Living Water: Images, Symbols, and Settings of Early Christian Baptism. ProQuestt. Leiden: Brill, 2010. Jongh, E. de. The Broom as Signifier: An Iconological Hunch, Questions of Meaning: Theme and Motif in Dutch Seventeenth-Century Painting. Edited and translated by Michael Hoyle. Leiden: Primavera Pers, 2000. Langmuir, Erika. The National Gallery Companion Guide. Internet Archive. London: National Gallery Publications, 1997. Franits, Wayne E. Paragons of Virtue: Women and Domesticity in Seventeenth Century Dutch Art. Internet Archive. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

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Franits, Wayne. Pieter de Hooch: A Woman Preparing Bread and Butter for aBoy. Getty Museum. Los Angeles, California: Getty Trust Publications, 2006. Prak, Maarten, and Jan Luiten van Zanden. Pioneers of Capitalism: The Netherlands 1000–1800. Princeton University Press. Princeton University Press, 2022.Rasmussen, Steen Eiler. Towns and Buildings: Described in Drawings and Words. Internet Archive. Cambridge (Mass.): MIT press, 1951. Rijksmuseum. “Het Vrolijke Huisgezin, Jan Havicksz. Steen, 1668 - Rijksmuseum,” n.d. Romney, Susanah Shaw. “‘With & Alongside His Housewife’: Claiming Ground in New Netherland and the Early Modern Dutch Empire.” The William and Mary Quarterly 73, no. 2 (2016).Schama, Simon. The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch culture in the Golden Age. New York: Vintage Books, a Division of Random House, Inc., 1987. Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Translated by Talcott Parsons. Edited by Richard Swedberg. New York, NY: Norton, 2009. Wheelock, Arthur K., Jørgen Wadum, Albert Blankert, and Ben Broos, eds. Johannes Vermeer. National Gallery of Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.

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Mother Nursing her Child

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The Dutch Republic founded their religious tolerance as a result the Eighty Years’ War, where the need for the civil and religious independence of Protestants was appreciated and practiced by other religions residing in the Netherlands. The art market, too, utilized this tolerance. Unless a piece was commissioned with a distinct theme in mind, most genre scenes can be read with or without a religious undertone. This was a deliberate effort by the artist to reach many audiences and buyers.

DE HOOCH - 1629-1684

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1676, Pieter de Hooch, Oil on canvas, 79.7 × 59.7 cm

Interestingly, this image can also be read perfectly secular. Because she is placed in a typical dutch home, she also serves to represent the quintessential Dutch woman and mother. The mothers in all of these paintings are not representing one sole virtue. They combine notions of education, religion, and domesticity all at once.

This painting can be read in two ways. The rich blue and red belie the undecorated interior in which she sits. De Hooch wanted this anonymous mother to resemble, if not to be recognized, as the Virgin Mary, signified by her holy colors. But unlike the depictions of the Virgin that we might be more familiar with, this mother is not accompanied by any iconography or other distinctions. A comparison of a typical Virgin and Child, like that of Gennari. De Hooch saw the similarity of the Virgin’s veil in the typical head coverings used by Dutch women and the quite sanctity of the Dutch mother’s home. Benedetto Gennari II, Virgin and Child, c.1655-1660 97.8 x 84.3 cm

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Mother With Children in an Interior

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This small family presents a parallel. The mother nurses her child, and the girl feeds the dog. Paintings by De Hooch and others, as well as sources on domesticity, both depict an idealized, yet suppositionally quintessential female who exceeds in maintaining the home and caring for her children.

DE HOOCH - 1629-1684

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1660, Pieter de Hooch, Oil on canvas, 67.9 x 55.6 cm

The immediate family was seen as a scaled-down version of the commonwealth, and Dutch families were regarded as "the cornerstone of society, historical and contemporary" [1]. Many Calvinist authors of the time wrote contemporary family literature, most notably Jacob Cats’s (1577–1660) Houwelyck, which inclined to support this viewpoint through instructional verse and guidance in confronting the moral struggles of all stages in a woman’s life, from childhood to widowhood [2]. 1, Van der Woude, “Household in the United Provinces,” 302. 2, Cats, Houwelyck, Tot Middelburgh, 1625.

The family structure changed over the course of the century as result of the affluent burgher classes’ contribution to a new, urbanized society [1]. A significant number of nuclear families arose in place of the declining number of extended families, and, as a result, the typical Dutch family in a single home decreased in size and increased in their intimacy [2]. 1, Durantini, Child in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting, 3. 2, Rasmussen, Towns and Buildings, 86.

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The Feast of Saint Nicholas

Dutch art shows children in a true-to-life light that had not been seen before in art. Children have gained a new independence and individuality in their depictions. Painters like Steen seem to understand the naivete and innocent playfulness of children. Scenes like this one display, with a careful and knowing eye for the nature of children, a dynamic scene filled with celebration, gloating, and crushing dejection.

STEEN 1626-1679

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1668, Jan Steen, Oil on canvas, 82 x 70.5 cm

While the seated mother gestures to her cheerful child with a basket full of gifts, the grandmother beckons the anguished son to look behind the curtain in the back, where an alternative to his shoe full of twigs waits. The girl teasing the boy with his twig-filled shoe and the grandmother gesturing to the young girl’s snide expression indicates a bias to the girl over the boy.

Saint Nicholas Day, a Catholic holiday celebrated in the Netherlands for centuries in the same way, rewards good children with toys and sweets, whereas naughty children get “switches,” or branches and twigs. Steen uses this to present a metaphor for the child-rearing traditions of the Dutch family, and seemingly also a criticism on negative multi-generational learned behaviors.

A Boy Blowing Bubbles

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In the investigation of the theme of children, it should be noted that children are not alone in their depictions. In fact, children were almost never painted without their mother in the same scene. Adults, especially the mother, play an important role in many of these works. A child, whether with other children or the family unit, poses some significance beyond a simple scene of everyday life.

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DE HOOCH - 1629-1684

1668, Frans Van Mieris, Oil on panel, 25.2 x 18.3 cm

The child blowing bubbles was a popular symbol for the transience of life and childhood [1]. The boy holds a scallop shell with soap. The bubbles seem to say that youth is fleeting and, just as the bubbles are a momentary joy, so too will the boy have to grow up and learn the responsibilities of adulthood. 1, Netscher, “A Boy Blowing Bubbles,” Mauritshuis, 167.

The vase of the sunflower and cornflower act as a still-life within the larger genre scene [1]. The sunflower turns its petals with the path of the sun, taking up every opportunity for sunlight, much as a child is highly impressionable to their parents' teaching. The cornflower is a symbol of innocence [2]. 1, According to James Hall, flowers, especially in still-lives, symbolize the “evanescence of human life.” Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, 126. 2, Pinke et al., “Iconic Arable Weeds,” 23.

A technique now called doorzichf (sometimes doorkirkjie) means "through-view" or "through-door." It refers to the artificial door or window along the edge of the painting, and creates the illusion of looking into a private space. In this case, it helps the viewer understand that this is a domestic scene and subject. 1, Wheelock, Johannes Vermeer, 74.

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Courtyard of a House in Delft

In some paintings, even childless women assume motherly and domestic qualities. This quaint space engages the senses: it seems quiet, warm, and fresh. It is both a brief illustration of life in seventeenth-century Holland, and an exposition of family relationships and women’s roles in domestic jobs and the stability of the home.

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DE HOOCH - 1629-1684

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1658, Pieter de Hooch, Oil on canvas, 73.5 x 60 cm

The purpose of the building to the right is unknown. It is also unknown what the woman holds in her bowl or what the girl holds in her apron. A clue can be read from the tablet above the archway: “This is in Saint Jerome’s vale, if you wish to repair to patience and meekness. For we must first descent if we wish to be raised" [1]. The inscription suggests that the meek, patient life of domestic service leads to heaven just as surely as more overtly religious observances do. 1, Langmuir, The National Gallery Companion Guide, 209.

It impossible to know for certain if the woman in the archway is the child’s mother or not. But portraying that relationship for certain, one way or another, was not de Hooch’s intention. The woman beside the child assumes a protecting and loving role and, and regardless of whether or not she is the mother, her adoration for the child is more than evident.

There is an air of ambiguity between the women and their relationship. The placement of the arch create a delineation between the home and the outside world. The values felt by the family are felt and practiced internally, rather than displayed to the public. It is a value that the maid is teaching the child in their daily, domestic lives.

The home may be aged and worn out, but it is still immaculately kept. On the freshly swept tiled ground lays a discarded broom, referring to a room that needs a good sweeping both physically and metaphorically [1]. In this picture, it takes on another symbolic meaning: a well-maintained household [2]. Contrary to the impeccable archway, the home may be aged and worn out, but it is still immaculately kept. It may also imply that the woman next to the child is a maid, or at the least a good housekeeper. 1, Hoyle, The Broom as Signifier, 193–214. 2, Schama, The Embarrassment of Riches, 375–97.

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A Woman Preparing Bread and Butter for a Boy

In this dim room, a boy stands in a gesture of prayer with his hat respectfully removed beside his mother as she dutifully butters some bread. This quiet scene of the most mundane of tasks relishes in the sanctified quality of daily routine. De Hooch has allowed his viewer to glimpse into a sanctuary of the family and home where a hallowed morning ritual takes place. Carefully secluded from the outside world, this painting exudes an air of domesticity, orderliness, and virtue.

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DE HOOCH - 1629-1684

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1663, Pieter de Hooch, Oil on canvas, 68.6 × 53.3 cm

The sign on the opposite side of the street reads schol, meaning "school" [1]. De Hooch included this detail to imply that this is the boy's breakfast before going to school. In doing so, this moment is a morning routine. Even though they do this everyday, the boy has been taught to appreciate and respect his daily bread. 1, Franits, Pieter de Hooch, 53.

Concealed in the darkness, this shelf holds a pile of books and a candlestick. The candle, a literal source of illumination, balances the knowledge of the books themselves. The candle references a type of “inner” illumination, or enlightenment [1]. Within the context of this painting, the light of a candle is associated with the enlightenment that is achieved from a proper and Protestant education. 1, Franits, Pieter de Hooch, 53.

The pedagogues of the Dutch Baroque believed that children were remarkably impressionable: that is, that children were malleable, the fruits of their parent’s endeavors, and that they permanently retained their mother’s instruction [1]. Daily habits became sanctified moments of reflection. Habits created conscientious routines. This mother and son, in their meditative morning ritual, are a paragon of Protestant virtue. 1, Franits, Paragons of Virtue, 26.

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The Merry Family

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STEEN 1626-1679

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Steen is hailed as a visual storyteller through his paintings, and this is especially true in this, one of his most well-known pieces. It's a masterful work that fits a chaotic and copious gathering in one frame. The eldest man sits at the head of the table, holding a viol and cheerfully raising a glass. Next to him sit two women, their proximity implying that they are his wife and her mother. Children fill the rest of the scene, sitting on the table, lounging on benches, leaning in from the window, and doing various activities. Notably, no one is having a meal.

1668, Jan Steen, Oil on canvas, 110.5 × 141 cm

Steen, like most genre scene painters, did not make scenes meant to represent real people, but fictional yet realistic people and families. Steen often modeled people after his own family and children and had no problem inserting himself as well, as a method of producing realistic but fabricated scenes [1]. It's speculated that this man playing the bagpipes is Steen himself! 1, Chapman et al., Jan Steen, 256.

This family provides an allegorical platform for a lesson in learned behaviors. This paper almost seems like an afterthought. It reads, “As the old sing, so shall the young twitter.”[1] This maxim was a common proverb, which cautioned the influence of the family’s elders onto the young.[2] Taken literally, Steen has depicted children with various forms of wind instruments, and others are smoking and drinking. Meanwhile, the adults sing and drink, spurring the children to even worse behavior. It was understood in Dutch society that family educators, particularly mothers, should be aware of the inadequacies in their children.[3] Family education in a domestic setting was regarded as vitally necessary. 1, Rjiksmuseum, “Het Vrolijke Huisgezin.” 2, Dekker, “A Republic of Educators,” 171. 3, Dekker, “A Republic of Educators,” 172.