Cornelis de Visscher

Visscher worked in the dark or “black” manner, using thick lines that are somewhat haphazardly assembled and punctuated by extensive dotting, making his overall composition painterly in its final effect. An independent engraver who worked in Amsterdam for most of his life, his technique nonetheless reflects the influence of the school of engravers surrounding the painter Pieter Paul Rubens (whose works hang at right).

Images of working-class subjects were popular in the Netherlands. Prior to Visscher, both Jan Van de Velde II and Rembrandt van Rijn had made prints depicting a woman selling pancakes, a popular street food. While their compositions offer a vivid slice of street-corner life, Visscher presents an interior domestic scene, where the grandmotherly woman is surrounded by children and a very curious cat.