Zich vlooiende vrouw

About this artwork

Bij het licht van een olielamp zoekt een jonge vrouw in haar kleding naar vlooien. Ze zit bij een schouw die gedecoreerd is met tegeltjes.

Art Historical Context

This intriguing print by Dutch artist Gerard Valck captures an intimate domestic moment from the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. Titled *Zich vlooiende vrouw* (“Woman Delousing Herself”), the work shows a young woman seated beside a tiled fireplace, carefully searching her clothing for fleas by the soft glow of an oil lamp. The modest scene, rendered on paper measuring 349 by 250 millimeters, reflects the everyday realities of life in the Dutch Republic, where such personal hygiene rituals were a familiar part of daily existence. Valck, active as an engraver and publisher betwee...

About the Artist

Gerard Valck · 1652–1726

Gerard Valck (1652–1726) was a Dutch engraver, publisher, and cartographer whose career bridged the 17th-century Dutch Golden Age and the 18th-century Enlightenment. Born on September 30, 1652, in Amsterdam to a silversmith father, and dying on October 21, 1726, Valck played a crucial role in introducing and developing mezzotint printmaking in England while also establishing a significant publishi...