Background
Gabriël Metsu was born in 1629, in Leiden, Dutch Republic (present-day Leiden, Netherlands). He was a son of Jacques Metsu, a tapestry worker and painter, and Jacquemijntje Garniers, an obstetrician.
Gabriël Metsu was born in 1629, in Leiden, Dutch Republic (present-day Leiden, Netherlands). He was a son of Jacques Metsu, a tapestry worker and painter, and Jacquemijntje Garniers, an obstetrician.
It is not known precisely, when Metsu began his artistic training. It is thought, that he apprenticed to his father before becoming a pupil of Gerard Dou, then Leiden’s leading genre painter. Also, Gabriël was possibly trained in Utrecht by the Catholic painters Nicolaus Knüpfer and Jan Weenix.
In 1648, Gabriël helped to found Leiden’s artist guild. Later, in 1657, he moved to Amsterdam, where he was to remain. In Amsterdam, Metsu began painting on a smaller scale and increasing the contrast between light and dark. At that time, Gabriël portrayed clamoring market scenes, fancier people and fineries, in a successful attempt to meet the tastes of the city's booming, sophisticated art market. Also, it was in Amsterdam, that he began to paint some of his finest works, considered amongst the best genre pieces of the period.
Gabriël's portraits were often depictions of middle-class life, taken directly from his surroundings. Moreover, in his lifetime, the painter was patronized by a wealthy merchant, Jan Jacobszoon Hinlopen.
At the end of his life, being influenced by the Leiden school of painting, Gabriël paid much attention to detail drawing, especially in the depiction of luxurious fabrics, which were supposed to look smooth and shiny.
Gabriël Metsu gained prominence as a painter of scenes of everyday life, still lifes and portraits. Also, Metsu was known as a founding member of the Guild of St. Luke.
His works were highly regarded during his own time, but the height of his fame came in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when he was viewed as one of the supreme masters of the Dutch Golden Age. Moreover, Metsu's paintings were sold for enormous sums of money.
Most notable works by the painter include "The Vegetable Market in Amsterdam", "A Visit to the Nursery", "The Sick Child" and "A Woman Writing a Letter".
Today, Gabriël's paintings can be seen in different museums and galleries around the world, including the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin, the Alte Pinakothek in Munich and others.
The Dismissal of Hagar
The Feast of the Bean King
The Cittern Player
A Young Woman Composing Music
The Letter Writer Surprised
Old Woman Meditating
The Prodigal Son
The Poultry Woman
The Tippler (The Wine Drinker)
Lady Seated in a Window
An Old Man Holding a Pipe and a jug
The Hunter's Present
Breakfast
Woman Taken in Adultery
A Soldier Visiting a Young Lady
Woman at the Virginals
The Huntsman and the Lady
The Armorer
Portrait of the Artist with his Wife Isabella de Wolff in a Tavern
Dead Cock
Woman Playing a Viola de Gamba
Vegetable Market in Amsterdam
A Woman Drawing Wine from a Barrel
Visit to the Nursery, after the Birth of Sara Hinlopen
The Cook
Woman Playing a Mandolin
The Family of Jan Jacobsz Hinlopen
The Virginal Player
The Sleeping Sportsman
The Patient and the Doctor
Woman Figure
Woman Eating
An Old Woman Selling Fish
The Apothecary (The Chemist)
Man Writing a Letter
The Sick Child
The Old Drinker
A Baker Blowing his Horn
Woman Reading a Letter
A Woman Seated at a Table and a Man Tuning a Violin
Washerwoman
The Poultry Seller
The Apple Peeler
The Sick Girl
A Man and a Woman Seated by a Virginal
The Intruder
A Hunter Getting Dressed after Bathing
Lazarus and the Rich Man
Metsu's favorite subjecs often included old people and young (single) women, who either fed pets, sold goods at market (fruit, vegetables, fish, poultry or meat), or were grocery-shopping themselves for these provisions.
In 1648, Metsu became a founding member of the painters' Guild of St. Luke in Leiden.
On April 12, 1658, Gabriël Metsu married Isabella de Wolff, whose father was a potter and mother, Maria de Grebber, was a painter.
