Woman Eating Porridge, 1632 - 1637, Gerrit Dou.(1613–1675).
Private collection. Oil on panel. Height: 51.5 cm (20.2 ″); Width: 41 cm (16.1 ″)
This is an early work by Gerrit Dou. It is generally dated circa 1635, thus to around the time that Dou left Rembrandt's studio, or shortly thereafter. Christopher Brown, who hailed it as "an outstanding example of Dou's early, independent style," favoured a plausible dating, to circa 1632-7.
Ronni Baer compares this work on thematic and compositional grounds with the Old Woman Eating Apples in Berlin which she dates slightly earlier, but notes that it is more advanced in the rendering of materials and the depiction of space: "the composition here is more balanced and the figure is handled with more assurance".2 Both works feature still life elements, some of which recur in both works, including the overturned pot and wicker basket.
Dou frequently repeated motifs in his early paintings, and returned to them later on. He used the same type of room setting seen here, with a large arched window to the left, a spiral staircase beyond, and a lantern or candelabra hanging from a transverse beam near the picture plane, in a painting depicting a man writing at an easel in a private collection, datable circa 1631-2, and the same window occurs in other works of around this date. Dou continued to use this basic compositional form throughout the rest of his career, at least until the late 1660s. Dou has here used the same model as in several other early works,
Because of its growing perfection in the details of his genre pieces he is counted among the 'fijnschilders'. His attention to detail led him to manufacture his own brushes. He ends up losing customers as a portraitist because his customers simply did not have the time to pose for such long periods allowing Dou to fix all details. (from Sotheby's)
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