Pieter Jacobs Codde
, Dutch, 1599-1678
Title
Interior with FiguresDatec.1630
MediumOil on wood panel
Dimensions
32 x 41.2 cm
Signedlower right (indistinctly): PC [in monogram]
Credit LinePurchased, 1892
Object numberNGI.321
Label TextThe painting depicts a gathering of men and women dressed in expensive clothes that would have been highly fashionable in Holland around 1630. This setting is probably a high-class brothel in which three prostitutes entertain two of their clients. The half-open bed and the dog underscore the licentious nature of the scene. Codde was one of the leading genre painters in Holland during the first half of the seventeenth century. He is best known for his interiors with merry or musical companies, tric-trac players and soldiers in guardrooms. Codde’s figures are often seen from behind, as is the case in this painting.