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A Kitchen

ca. 1643
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 617

In this painting, Sorgh inflects a domestic scene with the art of still life. Two maids clean fish and peel vegetables in the foreground, surrounded by gleaming brass and earthenware. A closer look reveals a mischievous cat, an open birdcage, and, barely visible between the two servants, a couple caressing in the shadows. Even such seemingly innocuous elements as the earthenware pots would have carried an erotic connotation for seventeenth-century viewers.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: A Kitchen
  • Artist: Hendrick Sorgh (Dutch, Rotterdam 1609/11–1670 Rotterdam)
  • Date: ca. 1643
  • Medium: Oil on wood
  • Dimensions: 20 1/2 x 17 3/8 in. (52.1 x 44.1 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Marquand Collection, Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1889
  • Object Number: 89.15.7
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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Man Playing The Violin, Hendrick Sorgh Dutch, Black chalk, brush and gray wash
Man Playing The Violin
Hendrick Sorgh
1645
Herman Doomer (ca. 1595–1650), Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) Dutch, Oil on wood
Herman Doomer (ca. 1595–1650)
Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)
1640
Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill, Pieter Claesz Dutch, Oil on wood
Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill
Pieter Claesz
1628
The Visit, Pieter de Hooch Dutch, Oil on wood
The Visit
Pieter de Hooch
ca. 1657
A Woodland Road with Travelers, Jan Brueghel the Elder Netherlandish, Oil on wood
A Woodland Road with Travelers
Jan Brueghel the Elder
1607

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