© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Old Woman at a Window with a Candle
Page 2 of 9Old Woman at a Window with a Candle
Gerrit Dou(Leiden 1613 – 1675 Leiden)

1671
oil on panel
26.5 x 20.5 cm
signed and dated bottom center in brown paint:“GDou / Anno 1671”
GD-103

How to cite
Surh, Dominique. “Old Woman at a Window with a Candle” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 3rd ed. Edited byArthur K. Wheelock Jr. and Lara Yeager-Crasselt. New York, 2020–23. https://www.theleidencollection.com/archive/(archived December 2023).
A PDF of every version of this entry is available in this Online Catalogue's Archive, and the Archive is managed by apermanent URL. New versions are added only when a substantive change to the narrative occurs.

© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Old Woman at a Window with a Candle
Page 3 of 9

In the early nineteenth-century, John Smith observed that Gerrit Dou’s Old Woman at

Comparative Figures

a Window with a Candle, despite its powerful effect, did not exhibit the usual
meticulous finish associated with the artist.[1] Indeed, Dou executed this scene withloosely brushed strokes in the highlighted areas and thinly applied paints in theshadows. The freshness of this technique allowed him to capture a spontaneous
moment of visual and emotional suspense. The old woman, seemingly stirred by anoise from outside, leans out of the arched, stone window opening into the darkness.
Illuminated by the flickering flame of the candle, she looks to the side, her lips
slightly parted as though she were calling out into the night.
As in some of Dou’s other niche scenes (three of which are in the present collection:
Cat Crouching on the Ledge of an Artist’s Atelier, (GD-108); Herring Seller andBoy, (GD-106); and Young Woman in a Niche with a Parrot and Cage, (GD-105), theartist used the arched window frame both as a repoussoir device and as a means toconcentrate our focus on the pictorial narrative. Here, Dou positioned the woman sothat her candlestick and its flame provide the painting’s visual focus, similar toFig 1. Gerrit Dou, Young Woman witha Lighted Candle at a Window, ca.
1658–65, oil on panel, 26.7 x 19.5 cm,
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid,inv. no. 132 (1930.21), © MuseoThyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

his Young Woman with a Lighted Candle at a Window from ca. 1658–65 (fig 1). They
also emphatically break the picture plane as the woman reaches across the thresholdof the window to extend the path of her light. As the candlelight flutters in the open
air, it casts radiating shadows along the inside of the niche while illuminating Dou’s
name and the painting’s date of 1671 inscribed on the sheet of paper attached to thebuilding’s stone exterior.[2] Simultaneously, the flame casts a reddish glow on the oldwoman’s ruddy face, her simple red and white chemise and bodice, the empty
birdcage in the upper right, and the limp body of a dead hen lying on thewindowsill.[3]Dou often included subsidiary figures in the backgrounds of his paintings, either as
narrative commentaries or enhancements to his primary subject. Here, sketchily
blocked out in the dark interior are a man and a woman who sit before a warming
fire. A similar juxtaposition of foreground and background figures is seen in Dou’s
earlier nocturnal scene The Wine Cellar from ca. 1660 (fig 2). Here, as Ronni BaerFig 2. Gerrit Dou, The Wine
Cellar—An Allegory of Winter, ca.
1660, oil on panel, 30.5 x 25.4 cm,Inv. GE 44 (Hohenbuchau Collection),© LIECHTENSTEIN, The PrincelyCollection, Vaduz-Vienna / SCALA,
Florence /Art Resource, NY (2016)

has suggested, the two figures in the foreground represent “young love” while thesolitary figure in the background references winter and old age.[4] The present work
probably represents an inversion of this idea, with the primary subject portraying asolitary woman as the embodiment of old age in counterpoint to the warmth of human
companionship shared by the couple in the background. The empty wooden pail andthe unoccupied birdcage symbolize life that has expired, as does the dead hen, whichsignifies that the old woman herself may be nearing her end.[5]Although the position of the candlestick has particular iconographic and© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Old Woman at a Window with a Candle
Page 4 of 9compositional significance, Dou seems to have arrived at the final arrangement wellinto the paint process. Initially, he intended the old woman to hold an oil lamp on theFig 3. Detail of GD-103, stripped state
photograph, during 2007 conservation
treatment by Nancy Krieg

window ledge, as can be seen in a photograph taken during restoration (fig 3). A
similar oil lamp, with a flame emitting from its side, is found in Dou’s Old Woman
with Two Young Children, dated ca. 1655–65, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (fig 4). Dou subsequently replaced the oil lamp with the basket she now
holds.[6] Intriguingly, the way the woman’s face is lit from the front reflects theoriginal position of the oil lamp, while the broader network of highlights and shadowson the niche derive from the candlelight. The character of these varied light sourcesindicate that Dou made this compositional modification at a relatively late stage in thepainting’s execution.
Another change in the composition was in the position of the birdcage. While its final
location is comparable to that found in numerous other paintings by the artist,
infrared photographs indicate that Dou originally positioned it hanging lower down on
the frame, to the right of the basket.[7] This original location would have placed it
along the old woman’s direct line of sight, thus making it the focus of her gaze,Fig 4. Gerrit Dou, Old Woman withTwo Young Children, ca. 1655–66, oil
on panel, 28 x 22 cm, Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston, inv. no. 2003.71,
Photograph ©2017 Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston

possibly as a reference to departed innocence or youth.[8] This change seems to havecoincided with the introduction of the dead hen lying on the ledge, indicating adeepening of the reference to senescence and the culmination of life. Other changes
in the composition are evident at the lower right corner. Dou must have originallyintended to depict a small flowerpot just below the ledge, as pentimenti of its shape
can be seen just below the dead chicken in the infrared image. A similar flowerpot isfound in a comparable scene of an old woman at a niche from ca. 1660, now in theKunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie, Vienna.[9]The earliest provenance of Old Woman at a Window with a Candle is from the mideighteenth century, when the work formed part of the notable Parisian collections of
Nicolas de Montribloud and Claude Tolozan. By 1802, when the painting was with
the London art dealer Michael Bryan, it was announced as having been part of theCitoyen Robit Collection, an association that seems to have been made inerror.[10] During the first three decades of the nineteenth century, the painting wasactively traded at auction in London at least ten times and was owned by at least four
private collectors between 1809 and 1828, a period that attests to the English market’skeen interest in this powerfully atmospheric work.

- Dominique Surh, 2017© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Old Woman at a Window with a Candle
Page 5 of 9Endnotes
1. John Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French
Painters, 9 vols. (London, 1829–42), 1: 28, no. 83; the painting is titled Old Woman at a Window with aCandle.
2. In 2010 Ian Tyers examined the panel for dendrochronological dating and noted the youngest tree ring
was formed in 1637, suggesting the tree from which the panel was obtained was felled after 1645. See
Ian Tyers, dendrochronological report, November 2010, 19–21 (on file, The Leiden Collection, NewYork).
3. The author would like to thank Dr. Nancy Clum of the Wildlife Conservation Society for help inidentifying the bird as a hen by pointing to the species’s characteristic head ornaments, including the red
comb and wattles (and lack of spurs or more elaborate wattles that would indicate a cock) seen in thepresent example.
4. Ronni Baer, “The Wine Cellar,” in Gerrit Dou 1613–1675: Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt, ed.
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. (Exh. cat. Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Dulwich Picture
Gallery; The Hague, Mauritshuis) (Zwolle, 2000), 110–11, no. 23.
5. For the symbolism of the bird and birdcage, see Young Woman in a Niche with a Parrot and Cage
(GD-105); on the withered hag and empty birdcage as allusions to departed innocence, see Simon
Schama, “Wives and Wantons: Versions of Womanhood in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art,” Oxford
Art Journal 3 (1980): 5–13.
6. In her 2012 conservation report of the painting, Annette Rupprecht has noted a slightly raised triangularshape near the base of the old woman’s left hand where the artist painted the top of the oil lamp, visible
in the X-radiograph, the infrared photograph, and the raking-light photograph (on file, The LeidenCollection, New York).
7. In her 2012 conservation report, Annette Rupprecht notes that the original position of the birdcage wasjust to the proper right of the basket in the final arrangement (on file, The Leiden Collection, NewYork).
8. See Simon Schama, “Wives and Wantons: Versions of Womanhood in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art,”
Oxford Art Journal 3 (1980): 5–13.
9. For an illustration, see Ronni Baer, “Old Woman with a Jug at a Window,” in Gerrit Dou 1613–1675:
Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt, ed. Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. (Exh. cat. Washington D.C.,
National Gallery of Art; London, Dulwich Picture Gallery; The Hague, Mauritshuis) (Zwolle, 2000),
114–15, no. 25.
10. William Buchanan describes how art dealer Michael Bryan was financed with backers to purchase alarge portion of the Robit Collection in Paris, yet Fredericksen notes that there were probably many
paintings that were erroneously said to have come from the Robit Collection but which in actuality came© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Old Woman at a Window with a Candle
Page 6 of 9from other sources. The present work may well be one of those instances, for we know it came from theTolozan sale in February 1801 and it was not found in the Robit sale of 11 May 1801. See WilliamBuchanan, Memoirs of Painting, with a Chronological History of the Importation of Pictures by the Great
Masters into England since the French Revolution, 2 vols. (London, 1824), 2: 68, no. 65; Burton
Fredericksen, “Notes on Description of Sale Catalog Br-62,” Getty Provenance Index, consulted on 23May 2012.

Provenance
Christophe-Nicolas de Montribloud (d. 1786) (his sale, Paillet and Julliot, Paris, 9 February 1784, no. 36[to Claude Tolozan for 2000 livres]).
Claude Tolozan (1728–96), Paris (his sale, Paillet, 2 February 1801, no. 28 [to Auguste-Louis-CésarHipolyte-Théodore L’Espinasse de Langeac for 2,320 francs]).
Auguste-Louis-César-Hipolyte-Théodore L’Espinasse de Langeac (d. 1814), Count of Arlet.
[Michael Bryan, London, by November 1801 (sale, Peter Coxe, Burrell & Foster, London, 9 May 1804,no. 71 [for £52.10]).
Walsh Porter (d. 1809) (his sale, Christie’s, London, 14 April 1810, no. 27 [for £210]).
[William Buchanan, London (private sale, De Berenger, London, 4 June 1810, no. 34probably
withdrawn); (sale, Christie’s, London, 21 June 1811, no. 43 [to William Smith for £127.10]).]William Smith (sale, Christie’s, London, 10 June 1815, no. 87, bought in at £101.17).
Admiral William Waldegrave (1753–1825), 1st Baron Radstock, London (his sale, Phillips, London, 19April 1823, no. 53, bought in at £194.5); (his sale, Christie’s, London, 13 May 1826, no. 26 [to WilliamBuchanan for £157.10]).
[William Buchanan, London (private sale, Christie’s, London, 21 April 1828, no. 16, unsold); (privatesale, May 1828, no. 25, unsold); (sale, Christie’s, London, 28 June 1828, no. 28, bought in at 145guineas).]Arthur Sanderson (1846–1915), Edinburgh.
Sir George Lee, London, 1901.
Sir George Hunter Donaldson (1845–1925), London, 1902 [Sedelmeyer Gallery].
[Sedelmeyer Gallery, London, 1911.][Trafalgar Galleries, London, 1977–80].
Private collection (private sale, Christie’s, New York, 30 April 2007, no. 1964 [to Otto Naumann Ltd.]).
[Otto Naumann Ltd., New York, 2007.]
From whom acquired by the present owner in 2007.

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Old Woman at a Window with a Candle
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Exhibition History
London, Bryan’s Gallery, “The Robit Collection,” 1801, no. 65; The Old Academy Room, Pall Mall,London, 1802.
London, Royal Academy, “Old Master Paintings,” London, 1977, 22, no. 10 [lent by Trafalgar Galleries,London].
London, David Carritt, Ltd., “Ten paintings by Gerard Dou, 1613-1675,” November 13 – December 12,1980, no. 9 [lent by Trafalgar Galleries, London].
Amsterdam, Waterman Gallery, “The Impact of a Genius: Rembrandt, His Pupils and Followers in theSeventeenth Century. Paintings from Museums and Private Collections,” April–May 1983; Groningen,Groningen Museum, 17 May–20 June 1983, no. 18 [lent by a private collection].
Oxford, Ashmolean Museum of Art, December 2009–January 2011, on loan with the permanentcollection [lent by the present owner].
Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, “Dutch Treat,” 11 October 2011–6 January 2012 [lent by thepresent owner].
Leiden, Museum de Lakenhal, “Gerrit Dou. The Leiden Collection from New York,” 9 March–31
August 2014 [lent by the present owner].
Raleigh, North Carolina Museum of Art,“Small Treasures: Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hals, and Their
Contemporaries,” 26 October 2014–4 January 2015, no. 11 [lent by the present owner].
Oxford, Ashmolean Museum of Art, on loan with the permanent collection, August 2015–August 2016
[lent by the present owner].
Philadelphia, Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, “An Inner World: Seventeenth-Century
Dutch Genre Painting,” 17 April–25 July 2021, no. 2 [lent by the present owner].
London, Dulwich Picture Gallery, “Reframed: The Woman in the Window,” 4 May–4 September 2022
[lent by the present owner].

References
Buchanan, William. Memoirs of Painting, with a Chronological History of the Importation of Pictures bythe Great Masters into England since the French Revolution. London, 1824, 1: 200, no. 3; 2: 68, no. 65.
Smith, John. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French
Painters. London, 1829, 1: 28, no. 83.
Martin, Wilhelm. Het Leven en de Werken van Gerrit Dou. Leiden, 1901, 237, no. 332.
Martin, Wilhelm. Gerard Dou. Translated by Clara Bell, 83. London, 1902.
Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Old Woman at a Window with a Candle
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höllandischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts. Esslingen, 1907, 1: no. 249, possibly identical with no. 261.
Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of
the Seventeenth Century Based on the Work of John Smith. Edited and translated by Edward G. Hawke, 1:428, no. 249, possibly identical with no. 261. London, 1907.
Martin, Wilhelm. Gerard Dou, sa vie et son oeuvre. Etude sur la peinture hollandaise et les marchaunds
au dix-septième siècle. Paris, 1911, 201, no. 224.
Sedelmeyer Gallery. Illustrated catalogue of the eleventh series of 100 paintings by old masters of theDutch, Flemish, Italian, French, and English schools. Sales cat. Sedelmeyer Gallery. Paris, 1911, no. 5.
Royal Academy. Old Master Paintings. Exh. cat. London, Royal Academy. London, 1977, 22, no. 10.
David Carritt Limited. Ten Paintings by Gerard Dou. Exh. cat. David Carritt Limited, London. London,1980, 28–29, no. 9.
Jansen, Guido and Ernst Van de Watering. In The Impact of a Genius: Rembrandt, his Pupils andFollowers in the Seventeenth Century. Edited by Albert Blankert et al., 126–27, no. 18. Exh. cat.
Amsterdam, Waterman Gallery; Groningen, Groninger Museum. Amsterdam, 1983.
Sumowski, Werner. Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler. Vol. 6, Einleitung und Schlusswort, Corrigenda undAddenda, Nachträge 2 - Ortsregister, Ikonographisches Register – Bibliographie, Künstlerverzeichnis I –VI. Landau, 1994, 6: 3702, no. 2252.
Surh, Dominique, Ilona van Tuinen, and John Twilley. “Insights from Technical Analysis on a Group ofPaintings by Gerrit Dou in the Leiden Collection,” JHNA 6, no. 1 (Winter 2014): 2, 3, 12, 21–22, figs.
12a, 12b, 29, 62a, 62b, 63a, 63b. DOI:10.5092/jhna.2014.6.1.3.
Weller, Dennis P. Small Treasures: Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hals, and Their Contemporaries. Exh. cat.
Raleigh, North Carolina Museum of Art; Birmingham, Birmingham Museum of Art. Raleigh, 2014,
81–3, no. 11.
Moqtaderi, Heather and Lara Yeager-Crasselt, eds. An Inner World: Seventeenth-Century Dutch GenrePainting. Exh. cat. Philadelphia, Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, 2021,
68, no. 2.
Sliwka, Jennifer. Reframed: The Woman in the Window. Exh. cat. London, Dulwich Picture Gallery.
London, 2022.

VersionsVersions
1. After Gerrit Dou, An Old Woman at a Niche by Candlelight, 1688, oil on canvas, 33 x 25 cm, Nancy,
Musée des Beaux-Arts.

2. After Gerrit Dou, An Old Woman at a Niche by Candlelight, oil on canvas, 32 x 26 cm, previous sale,© 2024 The Leiden CollectionPowered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Old Woman at a Window with a Candle
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Auktionsverk, Stockholm, 22–23 May 2001, no. 1394.

Technical Summary
The painting was executed on a panel made from a single plank of vertically oriented oak. It has an earliest
fell date of 1645.[1] The panel is beveled on the top, bottom and right edges as seen from the reverse. Thelack of bevel on the left side indicates that it was probably trimmed. There are three pronounced horizontal
grooves in the panel’s surface, which are visible in raking light and in the X-radiograph. The longest of theseruns from the woman’s chin to the architecture below the birdcage. It is unclear if these are flaws in the woodor if they occurred when the plank was milled. Examination in raking light also reveals downward sloping
rays emanating from the upper right corner.
The panel was prepared with a thin, light-colored ground, which does not mask the texture of the wood grain.
The paint was built up in successive thin layers of light over dark. X-radiographs, infrared
photographs,[2] and examination in raking light reveal numerous artist’s changes. The woman was originally
depicted holding the base of a tall oil lamp in her proper left hand with her arm extended straight rather thanbent at the elbow holding a pail, as seen in the final composition. In her right hand, she originally held a flat,round object. In addition, the birdcage originally hung lower down, next to the pail; a flower pot appearedjust below the ledge; and the dead poultry was positioned below the ledge as well.
The painting is in good condition and the panel is in plane. There is some abrasion, particularly in the areasof the artist’s changes and in parts of the dark background. It was treated in 2007.

Technical Summary Endnotes

1. Ian Tyers, dendochronology report, November 2010. According to Tyers, the narrow width of the board
indicates that it was probably significantly trimmed.
2. Infrared reflectography was performed by Shawn Digney-Peer at unknown specifications.

© 2024 The Leiden Collection