Existing comment:
Jan Siberechts
Herdswoman and Her Daughter, 1667
Jan Siberechts was one of the most important Flemish artists of the late 1600s. Almost all of the paintings from his best period, 1650 to the mid-1670s, are serious and unsentimental portrayals of peasants.
This painting is considered his masterpiece, though he painted the subject numerous times. Here, a herdswoman fastens flowers in her daughter's hair; in similar paintings of the period, however, the mother is shown picking lice. The flowers in this painting were probably added later, when picking lice became distasteful. At the time, having lice carried no stigma and a scene like this portrayed conscientious motherhood. |