Herring Seller and Boy

In this small panel by Gerrit Dou, an old woman and a young boy, gesturing to a shallow tub of fish, stand framed in an arched stone opening. They appear to be discussing the herring she holds in her right hand. The old woman’s stern glance allies her to the stereotype of fishwives as raw, coarse women. It is tempting, therefore, to interpret the action in the painting as an illustration of the contemporaneous expression “to give someone a bokking (a smoked or salted herring),” which means to shame them with a sharp remark.

Dou’s clever approach to this subject matter also relates to the painting’s innovative compositional device: the fictive window frame or ledge, which not only focuses the narrative but also enhances the painting’s illusionism. With the strong illumination streaming in from the upper left corner, and the still-life elements hanging over the ledge, this painting’s illusionistic effect attracts and seduces the viewer.

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