Old Woman Examining a Coin by a Lantern

Gerrit van Honthorst brought stylistic Caravaggism from Italy to Holland. This is one of his earliest genre subject depicting a single figure. Almost without exception, the figures in these works are illuminated by an artificial light source. Nocturnal scenes of this kind earned Van Honthors the nickname “Gherardo delle notti” (Gerard of the night scenes). The present apparently mundane scene can be construed as a rendering of the Avarice or Greed, as the pince-nez, the purse and the coin all are traditional attributes of Avarice. However, the scene can also be interpreted as representing Sight, one of the Five Senses.