Gerrit Dou (; 7 April 1613 – 9 February 1675), also known as Gerard Douw or Dow, was a

Dutch Golden Age painter Dutch Golden Age painting is the painting of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history roughly spanning the 17th century, during and after the later part of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) for Dutch independence. The new Dutch Republi ...

, whose small, highly polished paintings are typical of the

Leiden fijnschilder {{Short description, 17th-century Dutch artistic movement The Fijnschilders (literally "fine-painters"), also called the Leiden Fijnschilders ('Leidse Fijnschilders'), were Dutch Golden Age painters who, from about 1630 to 1710, strove to create a ...

s. He specialised in

genre scenes Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, work, and street scenes. Such representations (also called genre works, ...

and is noted for his ''

trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...

'' "niche" paintings and candlelit night-scenes with strong

chiaroscuro In art, chiaroscuro ( , ; ) is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to ach ...

. He was a student of

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

Life

Gerrit Dou - Girl Chopping Onions - Google Art Project

Dou was born in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

, where his father was a manufacturer of stained-glass.Baer, p.28 He studied drawing under

Bartholomeus Dolendo Bartholomeus Willemsz Dolendo (c. 1570 in Leiden? – buried 27 May 1626 in Leiden)Bartholomeus Willemsz. Dolendo ...

, and then trained in the stained-glass workshop of Pieter Couwenhorn. In February 1628, at the age of fourteen, his father sent him to study painting in the studio of

(then aged about 21) who lived nearby. From Rembrandt, with whom he remained for about three years, he acquired his skill in colouring and in the more subtle effects of

, and his master's style is reflected in several of his earlier pictures, notably a self-portrait at the age of 22, around 1635–1638, in the Bridgewater Collection, and in the ''Blind Tobit going to meet his Son'', at

Wardour Castle Wardour Castle or Old Wardour Castle is a ruined 14th-century castle at Wardour, on the boundaries of the civil parishes of Tisbury and Donhead St Andrew in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Salisbury. The castle was built in t ...

ocations may be outdated At a comparatively early point in his career, however, he developed a distinctive manner of his own which diverged considerably from Rembrandt's, cultivating a minute and elaborate style of treatment. He is said to have spent five days in painting a hand, and his work was so fine that he found it necessary to manufacture his own brushes. Notwithstanding the minuteness of his touch, the general effect was harmonious and free from stiffness, and his colour was always fresh and transparent. He often represented subjects in lantern or candle light, the effects of which he reproduced with an unparalleled fidelity and skill. He often painted with the aid of a concave lens combined with a convex mirror (the former sharpening perception, the latter providing a rightway-up image to paint from), and to obtain exactness looked at his subject through a frame crossed with squares of silk thread. His practice as a portrait painter, which was at first considerable, gradually declined, sitters being unwilling to give him the time that he deemed necessary. His pictures were always small in size. More than 200 are attributed to him, and examples are to be found in most of the major public collections of Europe. His ''chef-d'oeuvre'' is generally considered to be '' The Dropsical Woman'' (1663), and '' The Dutch Housewife'' (1650), both in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

. The ''Evening School'', in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, is the best example of the candlelight scenes in which he excelled. In the

National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current dire ...

, favorable specimens are to be seen in the '' Poulterer's Shop'' (1672), and a self-portrait (see above). Dou's pictures brought high prices, and one patron, Pieter Spiering, who acted as Swedish Ambassador in The Hague from the mid-1630s, paid him 500 guilders annually simply for the right of first refusal of his latest works. Queen Christina of Sweden owned eleven paintings by Dou, and Cosimo III de' Medici visited his house, where he may have bought at least one of the works now in the Uffizi. The Dutch royal court itself, however, preferred work of a more classical tendency. Dou died in Leiden. His most noted pupils were

Frans van Mieris the Elder Frans van Mieris the Elder (16 April 163512 March 1681), was a Dutch Golden Age genre and portrait painter. The leading member of a Leiden family of painters, his sons Jan (1660–1690) and Willem (1662–1747) and his grandson Frans van Mieri ...

and

Gabriël Metsu Gabriël Metsu (1629–1667) was a Dutch painter of history paintings, still lifes, portraits, and genre works. He was "a highly eclectic artist, who did not adhere to a consistent style, technique, or one type of subject for long periods". Onl ...

. He also taught

Bartholomeus Maton Bartholomeus Maton (1641 – after 1684) was a Dutch Golden Age painter active in Sweden. Biography He was born in Leiden to Huguenot parents where he became a pupil of Gerard Dou who taught him the art of painting in the fijnschilder style ...

Carel de Moor Carel de Moor (25 February 1655 – 16 February 1738) was a Dutch Golden Age etcher and painter. He was a pupil of the Dutch Golden Age painting, Dutch Golden Age painter Gerard Dou. Biography Carel de Moor was born in Leiden. According to Hou ...

Matthijs Naiveu Matthys or Matthijs Naiveu (16 April 1647 in Leiden – 4 June 1726 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Biography According to Houbraken he was trained in drawing by Abraham Toorenvliet (1620–1692), a glass painter and drawing instruc ...

, Abraham de Pape,

Godfried Schalcken Godfried Schalcken (8 October 1643 – 16 November 1706) was a Dutch artist who specialized in genre paintings and portraits. Schalcken was noted for his night scenes and mastery in reproducing the effect of candlelight. He painted in the highly ...

Pieter Cornelisz van Slingelandt Pieter Cornelisz van Slingelandt (20 October 1640 – 7 November 1691) was a Dutch Golden Age portrait painter who had been a pupil of Gerard Dou and is known as one of Leiden's fijnschilders. Biography According to Houbraken, his teacher was Ger ...

Domenicus van Tol Dominicus van Tol (also known as Domenicus van Tol) (c.1635–1676) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Biography Van Tol was born in Bodegraven. He was a nephew of Gerard Dou and his works often draw comparison with those of his uncle.

, Gijsbert Andriesz Verbrugge, and

Pieter Hermansz Verelst Pieter Harmensz Verelst (c. 1618, Dordrecht – c. 1678 in Dordrecht or Hulst) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Three of his sons, Simon Pietersz Verelst, Simon, Herman Verelst, Herman, and Johannes Verelst, also became painters. Biography Pieter ...

. File:Self-portrait by Gerrit Dou.jpg, ''Self-portrait'', 1635–1638,

Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum The Wilson, formerly known as Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was opened in 1899. It offers free admission, and has a programme of special exhibitions. It was renamed The Wilson in honour of polar explorer Ed ...

File:Gerard Dou - Painter in his Studio - WGA06642.jpg, ''The Painter in his Studio'', 1647

Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister The (, ''Old Masters Gallery'') in Dresden, Germany, displays around 750 paintings from the 15th to the 18th centuries. It includes major Italian Renaissance painting, Italian Renaissance works as well as Dutch Golden Age painting, Dutch and F ...

File:Gerard Dou - Self-Portrait - WGA06660.jpg, ''Self-portrait'', ,

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museumplein, Museum Square in the stadsdeel, borough of Amsterdam-Zuid, Amsterdam South, ...

File:Gérard Dou.jpg, ''Self-Portrait'' Louvre

Interpretation

A considerable amount was written about Dou in his own lifetime; for instance, Philips Angels praises Dou in his ''Lof der Schilderkunst'' for his imitation of nature and his visual illusions. Angels also stresses how Dou's paintings expressed the paragone debate current around that time. The debate was an ongoing competition between painting, sculpture and poetry as to which was the best representation of nature. It was especially popular in Leiden where the painters were seeking to obtain the rights of a guild from the town council in order to have laws for their economic protection. Gerard Dou - Maid at the Window - Google Art Project

Gerard Dou - Maid at the Window - Google Art Project

The paragone debate is not only addressed in writings from that time but is also reflected in the subject matter of several of Dou's paintings. An example of this is the ''Old Painter at work'', in which an old painter is shown working on a canvas behind a table displaying objects that show his capabilities of imitation. The aged painter refers to an argument in the paragone debate that a painter can achieve his best work at an old age, while a sculptor cannot because of the physical demands of sculpting. On the table, a sculptured head and a printed book are rendered in a lifelike fashion to show that painting can imitate both sculpture and printed paper, thereby reinforcing the notion that painting trumps sculpture. According to Sluijter, the "amazing true-to-life peacock and a beautiful Triton shell, next to a copper pot with the most refined reflections of light" show that art beats nature. Sluijter argues that the peacock stands for the ability of painting to "preserve the transient works of nature thereby even surpassing it". luijter, 2000 Difficulties arise when an artist wants to associate a certain meaning with a specific object. One of the most troublesome and thus one of the most instructive objects in Dou's oeuvre is a relief by

François Duquesnoy François Duquesnoy or Frans Duquesnoy (12 January 1597 – 18 July 1643) was a Flanders, Flemish Baroque sculptor who was active in Rome for most of his career, where he was known as Il Fiammingo ("the Fleming"). His idealized representations re ...

called ''Putti Teasing a Goat''. This relief features in many of Dou's pictures with a window-sill motif, and has been assigned various meanings. J. A. Emmens, for example, states that in ''The Trumpeter'' the relief represents "the deceitfulness of human desires, because the goat, personifying lust, can time and again be deceived by appearance, by the deceptive imitation, which is the mask". mmens, Opstellen, cit. (note 4), vol. 2, p 183 in Hecht, 2002 ''The Kitchen Maid with a Boy in a Window'' features a maidservant, fish and a little boy holding a hare, cramped together with a bunch of vegetables, a dead bird and copperware. Sluijter acknowledges that a contemporary viewer would have certainly approved of this scene as representing an approximation of life since the rendering of all the material is very realistic. On the overall series of maidservant-scenes, Sluijter remarks that the image of a maidservant was generally associated with a sexual undertone. According to de Jongh, this motif has erotic references. In his article on

Erotica Erotica is art, literature or photography that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erot ...

in 17th-century genre pieces, de Jongh argues that dead hunted birds and animals most likely all refer to the notion of eroticism and availability of the woman depicted because birding and hunting were synonyms for sexual encounters. All images of maidservants accompanied by dead birds or animals refer to hunting and ''vogelen'' (birding), which in Dutch means to copulate. The maidservants are thereby explicitly erotic. Certainly, a cock as a bird refers to a cock as the male sex organ and this can be seen hanging from the wall in ''Kitchen Maid with a Boy in a Window''.

e Jongh, 1968–1969 E, or e, is the fifth Letter (alphabet), letter and the second vowel#Written vowels, vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others wo ...

De Jongh´s erotic interpretations can be disputed regarding the paintings by Gerard Dou because he depicts his dead chicks and furry hares not only with seductive maidservants but also as props in motifs with old servants, or in domestic household scenes, such as '' The Young Mother'' (1658). Additionally, to objects possibly having a deeper meaning via

emblem book An emblem book is a book collecting emblems (allegorical illustrations) with accompanying explanatory text, typically morals or poems. This category of books was popular in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries. Emblem books are collection ...

s, complete scenes in Dou's oeuvre have been related to scenes depicted in emblem books or prints. The ''Girl Pouring Water'' is a variation of the theme ''Educatio prima bona sit'' from Boissards ''Vesuntini emblemata''. This emblem depicts the moral that "children absorb knowledge like a pot absorbs water". The gaining of knowledge is represented by a little boy standing in the background while the water is poured in the foreground. ollander, 2002 One painting that is strongly associated with an emblem is the ''Night School''. This particular painting is rather anecdotal in character. Baer disagrees with Hecht who refers to this painting as being merely a demonstration of Dou's abilities to work with artificial light. Baer identifies the candle lights with the light of understanding, and she relates the unlit lantern on the left wall with ignorance, which is combated by teaching, represented by the lit lantern in the middle of the floor. Additionally, Baer suggests that the girl at the left is a representation of Cognitione because she strikes the same pose as in

Cesare Ripa Cesare Ripa (, Perugia – Rome) was an Italian Renaissance scholar and iconography, iconographer. Life Little is known about his life. The scant biographical information that exists derives from his one very successful work: the ''Iconologia ...

's ''Iconologia''. Like Ripa's emblem, the girl in Dou's painting holds a candle while pointing towards a line of text. The essence of Ripa's emblem is that "like our eyes, which need light to see, so our reason needs our senses, especially that of sight, to achieve true understanding". aer, 2001

Posthumous reputation

Dou's work commanded high prices long after his death, until the 1860s. Soon after, he fell into near complete obscurity.Johnson, Paul. ''Art: A New History'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003. For example, when the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

in New York held in an exhibit to introduce Dutch art, it featured 37 by Rembrandt, 20 by Hals, but none by Dou. His obscurity continued until the 1970s when his reputation was reestablished and has continued since.

Works

Gerard Dou - The Quack - Google Art Project

*''The Night School'' (

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the S ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

) *1628: ''Astronomer'' (

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

) *1631.1632 ''

Old Woman Reading ''Old Woman Reading'', also known as ''Old Woman Reading a Lectionary'', is an oil painting by the Dutch painter Gerrit Dou, made ''c.'' 1631–1632. In the past the work was attributed to Rembrandt and was titled ''Rembrandt's Mother'', but this ...

'' (formerly known as ''Rembrandt's Mother'') (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) *1630s: ''Portrait of a Girl'' (

Manchester Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre, England. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupi ...

, UK) *1631: ''Prince Rupert'' (

J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. It is operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthies ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

) *1635–1636: ''Still Life with a Boy Blowing Soap-Bubbles'' (National Museum of Western Art,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

) *1635–1640: ''Portrait of a Man'' (National Gallery, London) *1637: ''An Interior with a Young Violinist'' (

National Galleries of Scotland The National Galleries of Scotland (, sometimes also known as National Galleries Scotland) is the executive non-departmental public body that controls the three national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries, forming one of the Nation ...

) *1640s: ''Portrait of a Young Woman'' (National Gallery, London) *1640–1645: ''Portrait of a Man'' (Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg) *1642–1647: ''St. Jerome in the Desert'' (Memorial Art Gallery of the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

) *1645: ''The Schoolmaster'' (

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

) *1646: ''Girl Chopping Onions'' (

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic List of British royal residences, royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King ...

, London) *1647: ''Still Life With Book and Purse'' (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles) *1650: ''The Dutch Housewife'' (Louvre, Paris) *1650s: ''The Young Mother'' ( Gemäldegalerie,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) *1650s: ''Self Portrait'' (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) *1650s: ''Self-portrait at the Window'' (

Residenzgalerie The Residenzgalerie is an art gallery in the Alte Residenz, Salzburg, Austria. Its collection includes works by Rembrandt, Carel Fabritius, Carlo Saraceni and Hieronymus Francken II. History The state-owned Residenzgalerie provides a cross-s ...

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

) *1658-1665: ''Young Woman with a Lighted Candle at a Window'' (

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum The Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum (, ; named after its founder, Baron Heinrich Thyssen, Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza), or simply the Thyssen, is an art museum in Madrid, Spain, located near the Museo del Prado, Prado Museum on one of the city ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

) *1652: '' The Quack Doctor'' (

Museum Boymans-van Beuningen Municipal Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen () is an art museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The name of the museum is derived from its two most important donors, Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen. The museum is located a ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

) *1653:'' The Physician'' ( Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu,

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand) *1653: ''The Violin Player'' (Liechtenstein Palace,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

) *1655: ''Old Woman Cutting Bread'' ( Museum of Fine Arts,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

) *1655: ''Astronomer by Candlelight'' (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles) *1658: '' The Young Mother'' (

Mauritshuis The Mauritshuis (, ; ) is an art museum in The Hague, Netherlands. The museum houses the Royal Cabinet of Paintings which consists of 854 objects, mostly Dutch Golden Age paintings. The collection contains works by Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt van ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

) *1660s: '' The Nursery'' (Lost with the sinking of the

Vrouw Maria ''Vrouw Maria'' (''Lady Mary'') was a Dutch wooden two-masted merchant ship carrying a valuable cargo of art objects, captained by Raymund Lourens, that sank on 9 October 1771 in the Archipelago Sea, outer archipelago of the municipality of Nag ...

in 1771) *1660–1665: ''Dentist by Candlelight'' (Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth) *1660–1665: ''Old Woman Unreeling Threads'' (Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg) *1660–1665: ''Soldier Bather'' (Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg) *1660-1665: ''Woman Bather'' (Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg) *1660-1665: ''Self-portrait'' (Louvre, Paris) *1661: '' A Hermit'' (

Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse (Great Britain), townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquess of Hertford, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wall ...

, London) *1663: '' The Dropsical Woman'' (Louvre, Paris) *1663: ''Woman at a Window with a Copper Bowl of Apples and a Cock Pheasant'' (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge) *1665: ''A Lady playing a Clavichord'' (

Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, south London. It opened to the public in 1817 and was designed by the Regency architect Sir John Soane. His design was recognized for its innovative and influential method of illumination f ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) *1670: ''A Hermit Praying'' (

Minneapolis Institute of Arts The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United Stat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

) *1670: ''The Hermit'' (

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

) *1670s: ''A Poulterer's Shop'' (National Gallery, London) *1670–75: ''The Herring Seller'' (Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg) *''Self Portrait'' (National Gallery, London) *''Portrait of a Young Man'' (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge) *''Evening Light'' (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) *''Young Man'' (The Hague) *''The Cook'' (Louvre, Paris) *''The Spinner'' (Gala-

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

Foundation) *''The Spinning Reel'' (

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. FAMSF's combined attendance was 1,1 ...

) *''The Reader'' (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco) *''Portrait of an Unknown Gentleman'' (Museum of Fine Arts at the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

Missoula Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot River, Bitterroot and Blackfoot River (Montana), ...

) *''Dog at Rest'' (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) File:Gerard Dou - Reading the Bible - WGA06644.jpg, ''Reading the Bible'', c. 1645,

File:Gerard Dou - The Grocer's Shop - WGA06636.jpg, ''The Grocer's Shop'', 1647,

File:Gerrit Dou - De Hollandse huisvrouw.jpg, ''Dutch Housewife'', 1650,

File:Gerard Dou - Violon Player - WGA06663.jpg, ''Violon Player'', 1653,

Liechtenstein Museum The Gartenpalais Liechtenstein (eng.: Liechtenstein Garden Palace) is a baroque palace on Fürstengasse in Vienna's 9th district, Alsergrund. The palace is owned by the Princely Family of Liechtenstein, rulers of Liechtenstein. It sits on the sou ...

File:The Doctor 1653 Gerard Dou.jpg, '' The Physician'', 1653,

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien ( "Vienna Museum of art history, Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, i ...

, Vienna File:Gerard Dou 006.jpg, '' The Young Mother'', 1658,

File:Gerrit Dou, Haringverkoopster met jongen.jpg, ''Haringverkoopster met jongen'', 1664, Leiden Collection File:Een kluizenaar Rijksmuseum SK-C-128.jpeg, ''A Hermit'', 1664,

File:Gerard Dou - Girl with a Candle at a Window 1930.21 joven-ventana-vela.jpg, ''Girl with a Candle at a Window'', between 1658 and 1665,

, Madrid File:Gerard Dou - Woman Peeling Carrot - WGA06634.jpg, ''Woman Peeling Carrot'' File:Gerrit Dou - Scholar sharpening a quill pen.jpg, ''Scholar sharpening a quill pen'', 1633, Leiden Collection File:Gerard Dou- Woman Eating Porridge-1637.jpg, ''Woman Eating Porridge'', , Private collection File:Dou Old Woman Cutting Bread.png, ''Old Woman Cutting Bread'', ,

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

File:Dou Stilleben.JPG, ''Still life'', ,

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (, ''Dresden State Art Collections'') is a cultural institution in Dresden, Germany, owned by the State of Saxony. It is one of the most renowned and oldest museum institutions in the world, originating from the ...

File:Gerard Dou - The Silver Ewer - WGA06648.jpg, ''The Silver Ewer'' ,

File:Gerard Dou - The Moneylender - WGA06649.jpg, ''The Moneylender'', ,

File:Young woman pouring water out of a jug, by Gerard Dou.jpg, ''Woman Pouring Water into a Jar'', from 1655 until 1665,

File:Gerard Dou 008.jpg, ''A Young Woman at her Toilet'', 1667,

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Municipal Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen () is an art museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The name of the museum is derived from its two most important donors, Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen. The museum is located a ...

Cultural references

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...

's 1831 novel ''

La Peau de chagrin ''La Peau de chagrin'' (, ''The Skin of Shagreen''), known in English as ''The Magic Skin'' and ''The Wild Ass's Skin'', is an 1831 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850). Set in early 19th-century Paris, it tel ...

'', the curiosity shop Raphaël de Valentin enters in the opening sequence contains, among other paintings, "a Gerald Dow which resembled a page of Sterne," and the old shopkeeper is compared to "Gerald Dow's ''Money-Changer''." In the

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

The Pirates of Penzance ''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 3 ...

'', by

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

, the Major-General brags of being able to distinguish works by

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

from works by Dou and

Johan Zoffany Johan / Johann Joseph Zoffany (born Johannes Josephus Zaufallij; 13 March 1733 – 11 November 1810) was a German Neoclassicism, neoclassical painter who was active mainly in England, Italy, and India. His works appear in many prominent Briti ...

. Dou (as "Gerard Douw") is a character in J. Sheridan Le Fanu's short story "Schalken the Painter". In the 1979

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television adaptation of this work, ''

Schalcken the Painter ''Schalcken the Painter'' is a 1979 British television horror film based on the 1839 story ''Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter'' by Sheridan Le Fanu, and stars Jeremy Clyde as Godfried Schalcken and Maurice Denham as Gerrit Dou. ...

'', he was played by

Maurice Denham William Maurice Denham (23 December 1909 – 24 July 2002) was an English actor who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes in his long career. Early life Denham was born on 23 December 1909 in Beckenham, Kent, the son of Eleanor ...

. Dou is portrayed on film by

Toby Jones Toby Edward Heslewood Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 7 September 1966) is an English actor. He is known for his extensive character actor roles on stage and screen. From 1989 ...

in ''

Nightwatching ''Nightwatching'' is a 2007 film about the artist Rembrandt and the creation of his 1642 painting ''Night Watch (painting), The Night Watch''. The film is directed by Peter Greenaway and stars Martin Freeman as Rembrandt, with Eva Birthistle as h ...

'' (2007). W. F. Harvey's short story "Old Masters" features a picture by Dou (as Gerhard Dow) as the subject of an ingenious scam. (The story is included in the 2009 Wordsworth Edition omnibus collection of Harvey's stories, "The Beast with Five Fingers".) A group of boys in Mary Mapes Dodge's ''Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates'' visit a museum in Amsterdam and see two paintings by "Gerard Douw", "The Hermit" and "Evening School." In the 2023 film, “

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" (), sometimes translated in English as "The Little Sea Maid", is a fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Originally published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children, the story foll ...

” Dou’s painting, Astronomer by Candlelight, is featured as a page in a book which the mermaid,

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki *, a Russian film directed by Yevgeni Kotov * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', a 1989 and 1991 ...

, flips though while singing “

Part of Your World "Part of Your World" is a song written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken for Disney's animated feature film '' The Little Mermaid'' (1989). Performed by American actress and singer Jodi Benson in the titular role as Ariel, a ...

”.

References

Sources

* *
Gerrit Dou (1613–1675): Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt at the National Gallery of Art

External links

*

Works and literature

Oldandsold.com

Vermeer and The Delft School
a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has material on Gerrit Dou {{DEFAULTSORT:Dou, Gerard 1613 births 1675 deaths Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters Trompe-l'œil artists Painters from Leiden Burials at Pieterskerk, Leiden Pupils of Rembrandt