Paying the Hostess
by HOOCH, Pieter de, Oil on canvas, 95 x 111 cm
In this scene a dandified gentleman is settling accounts with the proprietress, a pretty young woman. Like many interiors by De Hooch, this one is remarkable for its rendering of light, which may be that of late afternoon. Sunlight falls at a low angle through the doorway and through the window in the background. Various highlights draw attention to the hay, the man’s red coat with its gold lining and accents, to the otherwise mundane details like the broom in the left foreground.