Hendrick Sorgh, 'Two Lovers at Table', 1644
About the work
Overview
A love-struck man stares lustfully at a young woman. She in turn stares directly at us with a knowing smile, holding his chin with her left hand – a look and a gesture which clearly underlines her power over him. Meanwhile, in the gloom at the back of the room, an old lady looks in at the door: she is a brothel keeper.
The artist’s message? Here is a man who, succumbing to erotic temptation, is being exploited by women. But as well as this moral theme, there is knowing humour and plenty of double entendres in the scene. The vertical thrust of the wine glass in the man’s hand, not far from his groin, is an obvious example.
The painting has a pair, A Woman Playing Cards with Two Peasants, which plays on a similar theme, but is harder to interpret – it may echo the same theme, or provide a counter to it.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Two Lovers at Table
- Artist
- Hendrick Sorgh
- Artist dates
- 1610 or 1611 - 1670
- Part of the series
- Two Genre Scenes
- Date made
- 1644
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 26.4 × 36.4 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated
- Acquisition credit
- Bequeathed by John Henderson, 1879
- Inventory number
- NG1056
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘ÁùºÏ²ÊÔ¤²â Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1960Maclaren, Neil, ÁùºÏ²ÊÔ¤²â Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
-
1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, ÁùºÏ²ÊÔ¤²â Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, ÁùºÏ²ÊÔ¤²â: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the ÁùºÏ²ÊÔ¤²â Library.
Images
About the series: Two Genre Scenes
Overview
These two small parlour paintings might represent two complementary variations on the same theme or two contrasting ones. In Two Lovers at Table, a man stares lustfully at a young woman. She gives us a knowing smile, and a brothel-keeper waits in the background. This is a man succumbing to erotic temptation and being exploited by women. But there is less certainty about A Woman Playing Cards with Two Peasants. In it, a woman reaches for her winnings from a male opponent. It may be that she has tempted him into a game of cards but the deceit could be working the other way: perhaps he allowed her to win in the hope of gaining her favour.
The latter interpretation suggests that one painting illustrates the deceit of men, its pair the deceit of women. But if we see the woman as the trickster in both, then each must be a warning to men about manipulative women.
Works in the series
