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Burgomaster Hasselaar and His Wife

Circle of Gerrit Dou

European Art

A man of affairs, Burgomaster Hasselaar sits with quill in hand before a book and globe, both illuminated by soft light from the left. With a row of valuable leather-bound books on the shelf behind her, his wife, dressed in a costly millstone ruff, stands nearby with her hand on an overturned lute, an instrument symbolizing marital harmony. In the background, a well-known subject by Dou of a cave-dwelling hermit at prayer hangs on the wall, probably as a reminder that the couple’s material concerns—business and possessions—must be balanced by spiritual ones.
MEDIUM Oil on panel
  • Place Made: Netherlands
  • DATES mid–17th century
    DIMENSIONS Oval: 27 3/16 × 23 in. (69.1 × 58.4 cm) frame: 36 × 32 × 3 1/2 in. (91.4 × 81.3 × 8.9 cm)  (show scale)
    SIGNATURE Signed lower left on bottom step: "GDov"
    COLLECTIONS European Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 32.783
    CREDIT LINE Gift of the executors of the Estate of Colonel Michael Friedsam
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Circle of Gerrit Dou (Dutch, 1613–1675). Burgomaster Hasselaar and His Wife, mid–17th century. Oil on panel, Oval: 27 3/16 × 23 in. (69.1 × 58.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the executors of the Estate of Colonel Michael Friedsam, 32.783 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 32.783_SL3.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 32.783_SL3.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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