Prince Eugene of Savoy Vetting a Line-up of Prostitutes

Prince Eugene of Savoy was an impressive general and art collector. According to an old inscription once attached to this drawing, he is seen here with the Amsterdam bookdealer Louis Renard in the exclusive brothel run by Madame Thérèse on Amsterdam’s Prinsengracht. He had the ‘available’ women parade in review, just as he did his own troops. Troost doubtless based his drawing on an anecdote circulating about this at the time.