Paying the Hostess
ca. 1670
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
37 1/4 x 43 3/4 in. (94.6 x 111.1 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Stuart Borchard and Evelyn B. Metzger, 1958
Accession Number
58.144
Tags
Art Historical Context
Pieter de Hooch’s *Paying the Hostess* (ca. 1670) captures a quiet moment of everyday exchange in a Dutch interior. The scene shows men and women gathered in a sunlit room, with one figure settling a bill while a small dog observes nearby. Such genre subjects were popular in the Dutch Republic, where artists turned their attention to the rhythms of middle-class life rather than grand historical or religious narratives. Working in oil on canvas, de Hooch excelled at rendering luminous light streaming through windows and open doorways, creating a convincing sense of space and atmosphere. His ca...
About the Artist
Pieter de Hooch · 1629–1684
Pieter Hendricksz de Hooch (1629-after 1684) was a Dutch Golden Age painter renowned for his masterful depictions of domestic interiors and sun-drenched courtyards. Born in Rotterdam to working-class parents, he became one of the most celebrated genre painters of the seventeenth century. Working primarily in Delft from 1652 to 1660, de Hooch revolutionized interior painting through his unprecedent...