Zwammerdam, after 1622 - Leiden, around 1669 · Interior, old age and silent life

An old woman by the fire is enough to reveal Brekelenkam's art: low light, ordinary gestures and the dignity of a Dutch interior without theatricality.

Quirijn Gerritsz van Brekelenkam is one of the most sensitive observers of Dutch domestic life in the 17th century. Born in Zwammerdam after 1622, probably trained in Gerrit Dou's entourage, he was enrolled in 1648 in the guild of Saint-Luc de Leiden, a town where most of his career took place. He paints tailors, shoemakers, fishmongers, readers and women busy with household chores. His paintings seek neither the splendor of a courtyard nor the agitation of a party: they give importance to the concentration of a gesture, the roughness of a wall, the warmth of a fireplace and the distance between a few objects. The Old Woman by the fire belongs to this world of slowness. The figure stands in a restrained light which distinguishes face, headdress, fabric and utensils without erasing darkness. Fire is at the same time a source of light, a daily necessity and an image of time passing. Brekelenkam thus transforms a modest scene into a lasting presence. The interior is never empty: it retains the habits, fatigue and attention of a lifetime. The "Quirijn van Brekelenkam" selection notably compares Old Woman by Fire. Its reading favors color.

Brekelenkam does not dramatize everyday life: it gives it time to become visible, even in the heat of a fire and the silence of an elderly face.