Young Woman Peeling Apples

Nicolaes Maes

ca. 1655 · Oil on wood · European Paintings

Bright red tones unify this painting, linking the maid’s costume, the apples she peels, and the Turkish carpet on the table. Painted a few years after Maes left Rembrandt’s studio, this picture reveals the artist’s debt to his teacher in its soft contours and effects of light. Previous painters had made housemaids the subject of comic or sexually suggestive scenes. With this sensitive and ennobling depiction, Maes made an important innovation.

Artist

Nicolaes Maes

Date

ca. 1655

Medium

Oil on wood

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913