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The Visit to the Nursery

1661
Not on view
In an impressively appointed room, modeled on a large chamber in the new Town Hall of Amsterdam, the parents of a newborn baby receive a fashionable well-wisher. Such a kraambezoek (cradle visit) was a minor ritual of polite society. At least two of the poses recall figures by one of Holland’s closest observers of modern manners, Gerard ter Borch. The painting was celebrated in its own time—for example, in a poem by Jan Vos of 1662—but unfortunately its surface is badly worn from cleanings in the past.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Visit to the Nursery
  • Artist: Gabriël Metsu (Dutch, Leiden 1629–1667 Amsterdam)
  • Date: 1661
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 30 1/2 x 32 in. (77.5 x 81.3 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.190.20
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Seated Cavalier with Glass, Gabriël Metsu Dutch, Black chalk heightened with white on blue gray paper. Pasted down.
Seated Cavalier with Glass
Gabriël Metsu
mid-17th century
Tavern Scene, Gabriël Metsu Dutch, Oil on wood
Tavern Scene
Gabriël Metsu
A Musical Party, Gabriël Metsu Dutch, Oil on canvas
A Musical Party
Gabriël Metsu
1659
A Woman Seated at a Window, Gabriël Metsu Dutch, Oil on wood
A Woman Seated at a Window
Gabriël Metsu
early 1660s
Merry Company on a Terrace, Jan Steen Dutch, Oil on canvas
Merry Company on a Terrace
Jan Steen
ca. 1670

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