The woman seems to unveil her charms & as she does so offers us flowers
- this is perhaps a poetic allusion to the goddess Flora
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The artist is recorded only by her signature on this work. She is thought to have been French & to have lived in the 17th century. The flowers depicted include a yellow narcissus &, near the centre, 'primula auricula'. The large white flower hanging over the front of the terracotta pot may be 'viburnum lantana'. ...

It has recently been suggested that this painting serves as a warning against foolish & mischievous behaviour. The boy has used the small eel to entice the cat into his grasp & then withholds the bait, while the girl teases the cat further by pulling its tail. Judging by its extended claws the cat is about to scratch the boy. The picture thus seems to allude to the Dutch saying: ' He who plays with cats gets scratched', meaning he who looks for trouble will get it. It was common in Dutch 17th-century painting to use children in order to point out the foolish behaviour of adults. Judith Leyster, a painter of genre scenes, portraits & still lifes, was mainly active in Haarlem & Amsterdam. In 1636 she married the painter Jan Molenaer, whose works are also represented in the Collection. ...

This picture is attributed to Calraet because of its closeness in style to signed paintings by him. It does, however, bear a false Cuyp signature & in the past has been catalogued as his work. The horse in particular appears in pictures by both artists. ...

The boy is reading, having put down the book at his feet in which he was drawing a cast of the Christ Child from Michelangelo's statue of the Virgin & Child (Bruges, Notre Dame), known as ' The Bruges Madonna'. This is probably an early copy of the paint ...

In the 18th century the painting had a pendant, 'A Boy putting a Bird in a Cage' (present location unknown). It has been argued that the two pictures form an iconographically related pair whose subject is moderation in love. In classical literature a mous ...

The figures at the left, who look out over the battlefield, appear to be officers. This painting was previously attributed to J.M. Laroon, & catalogued as British School. ...

The design of this imaginary landscape was a popular one, & is perhaps Canaletto's, but in execution the painting seems nearer to the style of Bellotto. However, the painting is not of a high enough quality for it to be accepted as entirely by either painter. ...

This invented ruined arch, with a suspended lantern, may be derived from those which form the arcade of the Doge's Palace in Venice. The arch appears in other works by Guardi. A drawing of this composition was formerly in the collection of Sir Robert Witt ...

An invented ruined arch dominates this view. Two men are depicted digging in the foreground. The architecture may have been inspired by ruins found on one of the islands in the Venetian lagoon.A larger painting by Guardi of the same period (London, Victor ...