Interior with a Family and Two Nurses before a Fire
by MAN, Cornelis de, Oil on panel, 52 x 45 cm
Formerly this painting was attributed to the Amsterdam painter Esias Boursse. It is not surprising since Cornelis de Man and Esias Boursse were both clearly much influenced by the work of their Delft contemporaries Pieter de Hooch and Johannes Vermeer. The feature of the prominent fireplace on the right side of the composition appears to have been a favourite of de Man’s, and a very similar compositional arrangement recurs in his most famous work, the Chess players of around 1670.